


Something's Gotta Give

by StarvingLunatic



Series: In the Middle [2]
Category: Kim Possible (Cartoon)
Genre: Backstory, Bonding, Child Loss, Childhood, Coming of Age, Depression, Drama, Dysfunctional Family, Dysfunctional Relationships, Eloping, Explicit Language, F/M, Family Drama, Female Homosexuality, Fugitives, Homophobic Language, Lesbian Character, Loving Marriage, Married Couple, Married Life, Martial Arts, Novel, Origin Story, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Romance, Sexual Content, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Rivalry, Slice of Life, Superfamily, Unplanned Pregnancy, Wordcount: Over 200.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-12
Updated: 2008-12-21
Packaged: 2018-02-21 13:36:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 206,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2470142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarvingLunatic/pseuds/StarvingLunatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prequel to In the Middle. See Kane and Isabel raise up Team Go without killing each other or the kids.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The prologue of this story is actually two chapters from the story “In the Middle.” Chapters 10 and 15 to be exact. I’m not sure if it’s all right for me to post the two chapters of another story as a prologue to this story, but they are the prologue to this and I thought it would be silly to direct people back to those chapters to know what’s going on here when I could just put them as a prologue. If I’m not supposed to do that, someone let me know and I guess I’ll take the prologue out. Sorry this was so long. Enjoy the story.

Something’s Gotta Give

Prologue

“Oh, my god, who let this fucking bum in the house?” a teenage Isabel hollered in irritation. Her emerald eyes shone with fire in them as her anger flared like a volcano violently erupting because what was happening.

The house that Isabel was referring to was where she was currently standing. It was a mansion, close to a palace in her opinion. The vaulted ceilings were white and gold, as was the tiled floor. There were ivory columns around in the space that she was stood, which was the lobby of the magnificent house with two male actors.

 A movie was in the process of being shot and she was trying to choreograph a fight scene. It was her first solo job and she was trying her best not to screw it up. Thanks to the decided bum walking into the shot, she fairly certain that she was doing just that. She would never hear the end of things from her mother if she managed to botch things on her first run out on her own.

The bum that Isabel was referring to was a young man that seemed to have densely wandered onto the set. He was short, but muscular like a bodybuilder. His short, reddish auburn hair went off in every direction imaginable, as if he had just rolled out of bed and his hair had a mind of its own. His skin had an olive tone to it and his strange eyes, purple in color, were droopy to the point where it seemed safe to assume that he had just woken up or was intoxicated from something or any combination of things. He wore a white v-neck t-shirt that had holes in the right armpit, collar, and abdomen. He rubbed his eye with his large hand, seemingly unaware that he had just stepped into a movie set. He also seemed rather unaware of the danger that he was in by angering Isabel.

“What the fuck?” Isabel shrieked because of the situation. A deep scarlet rushed up her pale face as tension caused veins to pop in her neck. “Manny!” she hollered loud and heated enough to get the actors that she was supposed to be leading to back away from her. They expected her to burst into flames because of the way her temper ignited.

“Oh, dammit,” the director of the movie muttered and palmed his face briefly. He happened to be Manny and he knew that when Isabel said his name like that, it was not good. He actually contemplated pretending like he had not heard, but that would only upset her more, which was terrible for business and the wellbeing of everyone around.

Manny turned around from what he was doing, fixing his sporty spectacles to see what made the temperamental fight choreographer sound like she was going to rip his intestines out. He and the crew definitely would not put such a thing past her. He then spotted the decided “bum” and trotted over to him.

“Kane, what the hell are you doing here?” Manny inquired with his chocolate features twisted in utter confusion. He was much taller than the “bum” that he obviously knew. He was skinny, but looked almost as thin as a rail compared to the bum and his thick athletic build.

“Trying to get breakfast, but it’s pretty damn crowded … and loud,” Kane answered while glancing over at Isabel. He was eighteen years old. His youthful face, though tired, still managed to look vibrant, which was the vibe that he gave off even while exhausted. “And hot,” he decided with a grin after giving Isabel the once over. _Yeah, it’s definitely loud and hot_. The latter now concerned him much more than the former.

“Don’t even go there, buddy,” Manny said when he noticed Kane checking out the raven-haired fight choreographer.

Considering the fact that it was kind of warm, even in the air conditioned house, Isabel was wearing some rather skimpy shorts that showed off her milky, shapely legs that seemed to go on forever. She had on a t-shirt that hugged her torso just right, showing her generous bust size and perfect shape. Her face was nothing short of beautiful, highlighted by usually bright emerald eyes, and crowned off with a flowing river of ebony hair that fell to the small of her back.

Yes, Isabel was very hot, Manny would never argue against that, but she was also … well, Isabel. He suspected that the figure, curves, face, and hair of that woman was to make her tolerable enough to be around when a person knew that at any given moment, she could lose her amicable demeanor and destroy everyone in the room. Isabel was like a ticking time bomb in his opinion. But, she did design one hell of a fight scene and since she was generally good-natured, he did not mind being around her most of the time.

“I gotta go there. What do you think she’d do if I grabbed her ass?” Kane wondered aloud with a sleepy, but cheeky grin on his face.

“Yeah, because we both know girls love it when strange men grab their asses,” Manny remarked sarcastically with a deadpan expression. “She would totally kill you, Kane. And I’m not even talking about a pleasant, wonderful, the pain-stops-quickly death,” he explained as best he could, even though he had a feeling that he would not get through to the auburn-haired teen.

Kane shrugged. “Some deaths are worth it,” he said with a yawn. He rudely just opened his mouth wide as he inhaled deeply, not bothering to cover it at all.

“You don’t want to do that. Trust me, you’ll lead a much happier life if you just leave her alone. What are you doing here, anyway?” Manny inquired somewhat forcefully and he hit Kane in his barrel chest with the back of his hand as he posed the question.

“Wasn’t I coming back today?” Kane asked curiously. He squinted his eyes and scratched the top of his messy dark red hair as if bemused by the inquiry. For him, it was obvious that he was back when he said that he would be.

“No, you said next week. You didn’t climb any mountains in a week, right?” Manny pointed out.

Kane’s strangely purple eyes widened a little in realization. “Oh, I changed my mind on that. Ended up going and doing some cliff diving and camping out for a few days. Sorry, I came back early. I’ll try not to get in your way.”

Manny rolled his dark brown eyes, showing his disbelief for that vow. Kane not get in the way? _Yeah, and then pigs’ll fly to the moon_ , Manny thought. He knew that Kane would not get in the way with malicious intent. Trouble just followed Kane and his odd nature like a happy shadow.

“Well, gonna go have me some fried eggs,” Kane announced and he was about to walked away, but Manny grabbed him by his broad shoulders.

“Kane, seriously, stay away from Isabel. You damn sure won’t like it if you piss her off,” Manny tried to assure Kane.

The auburn-haired teen just shrugged his friend off and Manny knew that Kane was probably going to get himself killed. It was just the type of person Kane was. When he got an idea in his head, no matter how bad or stupid it was, he had to go forth and get injured by it. Manny just sighed.

“Kane, she’ll kill you if you grab her ass,” Manny seemed to promise the short fellow.

“It’ll be worth it,” Kane replied with a delighted smile as he rubbed his hands together, as if he would welcome death if he got the chance to do as he desired.

Manny sighed again and shook his head, knowing that he was wasting his time. He decided to leave Kane to get slaughtered. He was well aware that Kane would harass Isabel, no matter how much he warned the violet-eyed young man. He sighed again and went back to his own work while leaving Kane to his own devices. Maybe if Isabel did not hurt Kane too much, they could all get the scenes shot and be out of there before Kane got upset, not that Manny had ever seen Kane really upset. It was just that he doubted that the eighteen-year-old would take kindly to being beaten up in his own home, even if a lovely lady was doing the beating.

Kane yawned again and began scratching his head while lazily approaching Isabel. She was still fuming over the fact that she had been interrupted. Her slightly pale face was scrunched up from her fury, but all Kane could think was that she looked beautiful when she was angry. Her emerald eyes seemed to spark with energy; sure, it was murderous energy, but it was still fascinating all the same. _Oh, you must tempt Fate_ , his mind ordered him.

Isabel blew off some steam by hollering at the two actors that she was supposed to be designing the fight between. They wisely took their scolding, having found out early on that replying to her when she went on a rant resulted in horrible pain along with belittling and demeaning comments toward their manhood. So, the two grown men stood there like toddlers being reprimanded by an infuriated mother for having broken the rules of the house. And then, the admonishment suddenly stopped.

Isabel squeaked like a mouse out of the blue while her face twisted from fiery anger to unpleasant surprise before settling into homicidal indignation. She turned around on her heel, coming into a right hook punch, which landed right on the cheek of Kane. It was quite the wakeup call for him as his teeth rattled in his skull.

The sound of knuckles meeting bone echoed through the large, open hall and everyone grimaced as the blow landed, crunching upon impact. Kane himself hardly made a sound when the punch connected, but he fell back almost a whole foot while holding his thoroughly injured cheek. He did not collapse to the ground, but his legs wobbled like he was in an earthquake occurred directly underneath him as he rubbed his sore face. _Oh, she is a dangerous one_ , he noted with an internal smile, which only intrigued him more.

“Are you fucking insane!” Isabel screamed at the auburn-haired young man. He had just cupped her rear-end as if it was his property.

“Is that a trick question?” Kane countered with a shameless grin. To do so, he had to ignore the throbbing in his cheek. They both knew that he had to be out of his mind to do what he just did.

“What the fuck is this bum still doing here?” Isabel demanded from whoever had an answer, not that she would like the answer considering the mood that she had worked herself into. Any response that did not involve throwing him out would undoubtedly just piss her off more, which why was no one chimed in.

“Hmm … a bum, you say,” Kane commented with an amused smile.

“Get out the hell of here before I throw you out,” Isabel stated with a frown.

He could tell that she meant those words from the furious look burning in her quite enchanting eyes. _I_ _f her punch is any indication of her strength, she probably wouldn’t have a problem throwing my little ass out_. Still, he continued on being himself with her.

“You gonna throw me out of my own house, Bella?” Kane inquired with a bit of a pout, as if he was heartbroken to hear such a thing. The nickname came out just because she was beautiful and he felt like he was speaking the stone-cold truth when calling her that. She did not take kindly to it, though.

“Your house? Bella?” Isabel’s face turned bright red in an outrage by what she felt was a scandalous lie regarding his claim on the house. The fact that he was acting so casual and friendly with her only served to fuel her blazing anger. She did not even know his name after all and he had already taken all sorts of liberties with her.

Isabel, long ago at the end of her patience, took another swing at Kane. It seemed like she was actually trying to take his head off with that blow. The whole film crew grimaced before the hit even landed, appearing as if they had just witnessed the worst train accident of all time. They expected Kane would be down for the count when the blow finally did crash against his cranium, but found that they had reacted too soon. Kane did an amazing thing; something that everyone else would have thought was impossible. Kane caught Isabel’s fist.

“You only get one, Bella,” the tanned male remarked with a proud, almost teasing smile.

Isabel was incredulous and embarrassed by the fact that a perverted bum had stopped her move. She let loose a shrill scream in pure frustration, sounding like a dying bird, while yanking her hand back. Manny decided to step in before Kane made Isabel explode and she subsequently murdered Kane and maybe everyone else to vent her erupting temper. Manny flung his arm around Kane’s shoulders and quickly walked the teen away from the stressed out fight choreographer.

“What about that breakfast you were trying to get?” Manny reminded Kane as he pulled the shorter male away from Isabel while she was too upset to have the presence of mind to tear them both apart like a hungry lioness.

“Breakfast isn’t all that important when you got girls like that in my house,” Kane remarked with a lecherous grin, having the nerve to wiggle his dark red eyebrows while speaking.

“Look, Kane, Iz is having a tough time right now, so try not to bother her. She’s got a lot to prove with this movie and the actors aren’t as competent as I promised her they would be, so she’s really stressed and frustrated. Don’t…” Manny was not sure what he wanted to say, so he trailed off at the command that he was attempting to get out.

“Be myself?” Kane offered coolly.

“Yeah! Don’t do that,” Manny implored his friend, desperately begging from what the purple-eyed teen could hear in his voice.

Kane laughed, not taking offense to the plea. He decided to go off and have his breakfast while Manny tried to gain some kind of control over his crew and the set. Isabel was still fuming, her stance tense and stiff as a marble statue while on the inside she was feeling something that equal to a solar storm. Everyone eyed her, just waiting for the flames of Hell to radiant off of her and destroy them all. Manny sighed as he cautiously approached the furious teenager and hoped that she did not take her anger out on him. Silently, he told himself that he had to learn to stop working with his insane friends.

“Isabel,” Manny said in a calm, gentle tone.

She turned sharply to stare poisonous daggers at him. He gulped, silently praying that he would not get the beating that had been intended for Kane. He would never survive such a thing.

“Who the fuck was that?” Isabel demanded. Her hands were balled up into such tight fists that her manicured nails were biting into her flesh enough to draw blood. The pain was not even registering to her brain because there was no room for anything in her mind aside from her stress, aggravation, and rising ire.

“That’s just Kane Go. He was supposed to be off mountain climbing for the next couple of weeks,” Manny tried to explain.

She growled. “So? What the hell is he doing here?” she inquired. She sounded like a furious dragon, a dragon that no one around would even think to try slaying.

“Oh, this is his house,” Manny replied as if he was surprised that she did not know, even though it was not common knowledge.

Isabel blinked a couple of times and appeared taken aback by that, even though Kane had already expressed that the place was his home. She obviously had not believed him when Kane said it. _Who could or would believe that a boy that looked like him could own a place like this freaking castle?_ The house was like a palace and Kane was…well, a bum from what she could tell. He looked like a hobo. Manny would describe Kane more as a vagabond, but the idea was still pretty much the same.

“This is his house?” Isabel echoed in shock. Her eyes narrowed in more suspicion than her being incredulous. _I wonder how he came across this place?_

“Yeah, this is his house. He wanted to help out with my first movie, so he offered up his house for a lot of the scenes. Don’t worry about Kane. He’s harmless,” Manny tried to assure Isabel.

“Harmless? He grabbed my ass!” she pointed out with her eyebrows bent in defiance and rage that he would dare describe that little filthy lecher as “harmless.” It did not help matters that she had on shorts, so he grabbed meat, not cloth when he groped her.

“Yeah, he’s _relatively_ harmless. He’s a weird little guy,” Manny said with a chuckle and a shrug, as if that excused Kane’s behavior. It more explained the short fellow than anything else.

“Well, keep your weird little guy the fuck away from me. He gets in my damn way again, I’m fucking beating his little, leprechaun ass,” the emerald-eyed female declared with clear sincerity.

Manny shrugged again; he did not care if Isabel cracked Kane’s skull really because he did not doubt that Kane would deserve it considering the fact that he had already been warned. Kane was tough, anyway. If anybody could handle Isabel, it would be that crazy little guy, Manny figured. He did not want to leave it all on Kane, though, and decided to throw in the one thing he could say.

“Just try not to kill him. He’s not only offering his house and a few other locations, but he did give up a nice amount of money for us to make this thing,” Manny explained to Isabel. If Kane died, they would lose a lot of financing and might have to stop production. Not to mention, he would have to take time out of his life to attend the funeral for his friend.

“Oh, you’re fucking kidding me,” Isabel groaned and she threw her hands up. “I’m not being nice to that little snot,” she vowed, pointing at Manny. “There was no fucking way in Hell that I’d ever be nice to someone that actually fucking violated me!”

“I didn’t say you had to be. Just don’t kill him,” Manny replied in a nonchalant voice, shrugging his narrow shoulders. “Maybe spit on him if he’s on fire or something, which with Kane could actually happen, but nothing beyond that.”

Isabel grumbled, but she did not make any promises. If she had to, she would take Kane down, snap him in half, and not lose a bit of sleep over it. No one just took liberties with her person and grabbed her ass as if it would go unpunished.

She huffed to get it out of her system and then turned to the idiots that Manny wanted her to believe were competent martial artists. They could barely perform a simple kick move! She was going to have to revamp her whole idea to make up for their shortcomings to avoid looking like she had no clue as to what she was doing. She wished that they had the money to hire some stand-ins, considering the fact that she knew a number of people that would jump at such a deal.

Things eventually calmed down and the crew went back to work until Kane returned a few hours later. He looked better, having taken a shower and thrown on some clothes that did not have holes in them, but he still had the air of a vagrant to him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he had not combed his hair, so it was still going out in every direction. His outfit, though neat and clean, did not seem to match up. He had on a sleeveless t-shirt with a wild design covering the whole thing; it had an image of sailors fighting off some kind of sea monster in very vibrant colors. He had on cargo pants that were blue fatigues and then to top it off, he was wearing black flip-flops.

“Kane, get of my shot!” Manny pled in an exasperated tone while sliding out of his chair to the cool, tiled floor. He knew that the auburn-haired teen would be a pest, but he did not think it would happen so soon.

“Shot?” Kane muttered slowly as if he did not know what was going on and then he looked around, remembering that they were shooting a movie. “Oh, yeah,” he said in a dazed tone with a low chuckle.

“You fucking moron, move!” Isabel hollered, even though she did not have anything to do with the scene going on at the moment. Kane just rubbed her the wrong way earlier and she took pleasure in getting a chance to scream at him again.

“My fault,” Kane apologized with a sluggish, sheepish wave while walking out of the shot even slower than that. He seemed to move at the speed of molasses in everything that he did, even the way he talk kind of drawled out like he was stuck in a freeze frame if he had to say enough words.

Isabel growled, upset now with the fact that Kane was alive since he was acting like snails could move faster than he did. She stepped away from what she was doing, namely trying to correct the moves that she had wanted to use in an upcoming fight scene, to go yank Kane off of the set. He yelped when she grabbed him by the crew neck of his shirt and flung him into a nearby pillar. Kane smashed into the column, but grinned despite the pain in his back. Isabel wanted to let him have it again because of the stupid expression that he was wearing.

“Do you want me to kill you?” Isabel demanded to know. It seemed to be the only explanation for why the slow-moving young man was looking at her in the manner that he was, even though he knew what she could do to him by now.

“Well, I’d go with a smile,” Kane replied, still smiling, even though it did hurt his bruised cheek. The area that she had abused earlier was already a deep, dark purple mark and throbbing at a steady rhythm, but he ignored it. Having had plenty of bruises in his life, he had learned to live with them long ago.

Isabel snarled, hating Kane more with every second that passed and every time that he moved. The crew had a feeling that shooting in and around Kane’s large manor was going to get more interesting with him around. They were absolutely correct, too. Things quickly reached a point where Isabel’s mood soured before she even saw Kane. It was just like she could sense him within a fifty foot radius and she would frown before he even got near her. Kane did not seem to notice; or he at least pretended not to notice.

Isabel was the only person in the crew that had grown to dislike Kane. When given a chance, everyone found that he had a boyish charm and was a wonderfully comforting presence because he was so easy-going. Many of the women especially found him to be cute and seemed to love when he came to flirt with them, which he did shamelessly with almost every female that happened to catch his eye. It was clear that he was not serious, but the ladies liked the attention nonetheless from the muscular, athletic young man, all except Isabel anyway.

Since Isabel seemed to have an early warning system when it came to Kane, by the time he came over to interact with her, she was pretty much steaming from her anger with his presence. So, he did not have much time to act or say something really perverse before she beating him over the head with the nearest object, finding her fists to just not be enough to knock some sense into him. Apparently, there was no getting through to him, though.

“Hey, Bella,” Kane happily cooed as he slid up behind Isabel. He could already practically see smoke coming out of her ears after having to deal with him for over a week. He loved that Manny was using most of his house and property for his film because it gave him a chance to be around Isabel.

“I’ve told you not to call me that,” Isabel growled through clenched teeth while not bothering to turn around to face him. He already knew from the past that her face was getting flushed scarlet due to her irritation of him just there and breathing. He wondered what it was about his presence that just infuriated her so much, but he knew that he enjoyed it. She was so absolutely gorgeous when she was upset, after all.

“You’ve told me a lot of things,” he remarked with his usual grin. Everyone noticed that he grinned often and wide while around Isabel. When he was with other people, he smiled a bit, but the expression was never quite a grin. His violet eyes shined when he looked at her and sparkled when he grinned in her presence.

“Listen to me—” Isabel was interrupted by the little pest.

“Scream my name? I’d love to!” Kane practically howled and a delighted expression lit up his royal-colored eyes. It was inappropriate lines like that that got him clobbered by her.

Isabel’s eye twitched in pure, burning irritation. She turned around swiftly, punching Kane right in the gut, her knuckles feeling some resistance while her mind was calmed momentary thanks to the blow. He coughed in agony and slid back while putting a hand to his injured stomach. He closed one eye from the agony and stared at her with a pained smile. It seemed like all he could do was smile at her, no matter what.

 _Oh man, she hits really hard_ , Kane muttered mentally. “You know, I’m starting to think that you’re really trying to hurt me, Bella,” he commented with a forced laugh.

“Will you just go the fuck away?” Isabel ordered him in a bellow, pointing off in the distance. Her face was bright ruby from the absolute rage that she felt toward him and if she could just devour him to be rid of him, she would have done it at that very moment. Actually, she would have done it days ago.

“I never walk away from a challenge or a beautiful woman,” Kane replied. “Both of which, you are,” he pointed out with a smile.

Isabel just curled her lip in disgust and went to sock him again. She swung on him, but he surprised her and caught her fist that time. She snarled like a troubled beast; he seemed to make it a habit to catch her attacks after an initial blow. The fact that he could catch her attacks only made her way to destroy him even more. _How the hell can someone so slow be so fucking fast?!_

“You only get one, Bella,” Kane commented with a smile and wiggled his burgundy eyebrows at her.

“You’re infuriating!” Isabel screamed while violently snatching her fist back.

“I try my best,” he replied, still in good spirits despite the fact that he was pretty sure he would be pissing blood later on.

The raven-haired martial artist only screamed again, leaving the area to avoid having to be around that pest anymore. Kane laughed, even though it was hurting his stomach. Manny came over once the coast was clear to laugh at his friend, as he tended to do after Isabel let the short fellow have it.

“Why do you keep doing this to yourself?” Manny asked curiously. He had never witnessed a person take such abuse all for the sake of trying to pick up a woman, no matter how sexy that woman happened to be.

“I love her,” Kane answered with a laugh.

“Why do you always love things that will probably kill you?” Manny inquired in a puzzled tone while shaking his head slightly, being careful not to knock off the plain light blue baseball cap that he was wearing. He did not take his friend’s declaration of love for Isabel as anything more than Kane’s love for mountain climbing or sky-diving, which was how Kane meant his statement anyway.

“I don’t know. How can you not love something that’ll probably kill you?” Kane countered as if that made any sense. He honestly did not know what kept drawing him to Isabel aside from the fact that he had a taste for extreme, dangerous things and she was the very definition of extremely dangerous to him. She was like the opposite end of a magnet for him and he just kept getting pulled to her.

“Trust me, man, stay away from her. Her stress levels are only climbing with every scene that she’s got to change now that she’s figured out I lied to her about how good these morons martial arts skills are,” Manny remarked. He had to tell one whopper of a lie to get Isabel to sign on for the project and he doubted that he would ever hear the end of it from her when the movie was finally done. Hell, she might never work with him again when the movie was finally done, especially if she associated him with Kane in her mind since Kane was his friend.

“Why do you always lie to your friends?” Kane asked more as a joke than anything else, even though it was a trend for Manny to lie his ass off when he wanted something from his friends.

“How else am I supposed to get you jerks to help me out? I know cool people who don’t give a damn about helping me!” Manny chuckled.

“Maybe because you’re always lying to us!” the shorter male countered. “Hell, you lie to me all the damn time and I do nothing but help your ass out if I have a chance and you ask. … And if I remember and I’m not lost in the wilderness or something.” He was known for forgetting things and getting lost somewhere in the mountains much of the time.

“Shut up. Go take care of your stomach. I know it’s killing you.”

Kane only laughed, but that was the truth. He walked off to go take care of his abdomen while thinking of Isabel. He was genuinely attracted to her, even though it was easy to see that she disliked him. He figured that he should be able to wear her down somewhat, believing that he was already in her system, which was why she had such strong feelings toward him. Sure, they were negative feelings, but he had to start somewhere. Maybe her appeal came from the fact that she took his charm and threw it back in his face rather than eating it up like everyone else did. Maybe he wanted her because he could not have her…or maybe Cupid had gotten him. He did not know and did not care. He just wanted that very fascinating and dangerous woman.

Isabel, for her part, found herself hating Kane with a passion. And every time she thought that she could not possibly hate him more, he did something to prove her wrong. She doubted that she had ever detested someone as much as Kane, especially in such a short amount of time. She could not wait to get away from that annoying little pest. She especially disliked the way that he had a tendency of catching her punches. That irked her to no end.

 _How can someone that moves at the pace of a glacier react fast enough to catch my attacks?_ Isabel could not figure it out. Kane dragged around going slower than evolution for the most part, but she could almost never hit him a second time after catching him with the first blow. It was becoming beyond embarrassing. After all, she was master martial artist and he was…well, Kane.

Kane, to Isabel’s observation, was a lazy oaf and that was being kind about things. He flirted with everything that had breasts and always managed to screw up a shot, usually by walking through it. Manny joked that he should hire Kane in as an extra and just have him as a running gag through out the movie. Whenever Kane ended up in a shot, it took over a minute to get him to realize his mistake and then it took him way too long to finally get out of the way. He always apologized, but that did not excuse the fact that he was a moron. _So, how can such an obvious idiot catch my attacks?_  

Isabel tried to wipe Kane from her thoughts and get back to what was really important, namely mapping out the next fight scene. She was thankful that she had the peace to get everything together and she rather proud of what she had worked out. When it came time to shoot the scene, she had a wonderful feeling that it was going to be perfect. She smiled to herself as the actors got into position and then suddenly her smile vanished, but no one noticed.

“No, no, no,” Isabel muttered in a panic while her wide eyes frantically scanned around as if she expected a bomb to drop.

“What’s wrong?” Manny asked when he noticed the overwrought expression on his fight choreographer’s face. 

“He’s coming. Don’t let him walk in the shot,” Isabel ordered harshly. Her face tensed and a snarl tugged at her full top lip.

“He? Who?” the director inquired. His face scrunched up and he scratched the top of his head as he regarded Isabel as if she was out of her mind. He did not recall Isabel suffering from insanity, but he honestly would not be surprised to find it ran in her family.

“Who else? Kane,” Isabel growled in anger while making a fist, apparently ready to beat the tiny snot up before he had even done anything.

“Kane?” Manny looked around and then shook his head. “I don’t see the little guy. I think he went out with a couple of assistances for some beer or something.”

“No, no, no. He’s coming and I know that dumb bastard is going to walk in the fucking shot and I’m going to have to beat the living shit out of the little bitch,” Isabel stated soundly. There did not seem to be any talking her out of that one, but luckily for Kane, he was nowhere around.

Manny thought that Isabel was just being paranoid because they were about to shot one of the big fight scenes of the movie. Kane was nowhere around as far as he knew. The shot was safe…for ten seconds. It would seem that Isabel’s prophecy of sheer doom was right on the money because Kane came in alone right into the shot, right into the middle of the fight.

Kane seemed totally surprised when he was almost kicked in the mouth. He reacted in a split second and avoided the hit, but found himself dodging other attacks. He had no idea what was going on, but he was doing his best not to get his jaw broken.

“KANE!” Isabel hollered in a tone that would have made the devil himself run for cover.

The crew would have all signed sworn affidavits that pure, blue flames rose off of Isabel as marched toward Kane. They all prayed for his soul and then took bets on how she was going to kill him, snapping his neck being the one favored by them. She certainly was wearing a “twist his head off his shoulders” expression.

Kane gulped when he noticed Isabel coming toward him, looking not-at-all happy and not in the way he was used to seeing, while the actors finally stopped attacking him. He appeared worried for the first time to all of his guests. He threw a big apologetic grin on his face, seeming to finally realize what he had done that was so wrong. He now knew that he was standing in the middle of her shot.

“Bella …” Kane started to say with a nervous laugh, but he did not make it passed the little nickname that he enjoyed using for her. That one word did not help his current situation, which the crew believed could best be described as “totally fucked.”

“I told you, stop calling me that!” Isabel bellowed, her wrath coming out full force in her voice, as she glared at him with pure hatred. She came in for the attack that was supposed to be his death.

Kane yelped like a frightened puppy as he barely avoided a thundering straight right hand from Isabel. He was certain that he felt the pressure weigh from the force behind the blow. She kept coming and he just kept dodging, which only served to infuriate her further. Kane was starting to get the idea that he did not want one of her hits to actually connect with him fully, so along with dodging, he started blocking. His forearms were stinging quickly from that course of action, but he preferred that to his chest and abdomen being punched in and having his bones collapse into his torso.

Isabel only seemed to get madder with every block and dodge from the short male. Her pale face flushed a bright red and she scowled so deeply that it looked like the frown lines would cut her face open. She changed from throwing punches to some very powerful kicks. Kane made a panicked face as he ducked, narrowly missing having his neck broken with a kick. He flipped out of the way, but she kept coming at him, each kick more deadly than the last. He caught her leg, hoping that they could talk things out before she slaughtered him.

“Bella, I didn’t mean it!” Kane apologized quite sincerely and his voice was laced with desperation for her to accept his words. His eyes pled with her to just believe him. He was tempted to throw his hands up in surrender, but he was certain that she would break his whole body as soon as he let her go.

“Stop fucking calling me that! And, goddamn it, stand the fuck still!” Isabel commanded while taking her leg back to continue her attack.

Kane looked ready to cry, which further shocked the audience that the pair had considering the fact that Kane had been nothing but jubilant since he showed up, even when Isabel was out to harm him. He blocked Isabel a few more times, but then she came in with her best kick. Kane was not sure what hit him, but he refused to believe that it was a human leg. The sound of her foot crashing against his skull was quite the disgusting crunch and everyone was certain that she had cracked his head open like an eggshell with that move. His head snapped to the side and he collapsed to the ground, blood oozing from his mouth and nose, dripping on the cold marble.

He fell to his side, but caught himself on his knees and with one weak hand that shook as it tried to support him. His eyes were wide as if he were in total shock and for the first time did not look at Isabel with his usual cheery playfulness in his regal eyes. He actually looked hurt, beyond the physical pain that he was in and he was in quite a bit of that. It was as if he actually viewed himself as a victim and she was the criminal who had wounded him on every level possible.

Isabel huffed, surprising everyone that coal black smoke did not come out of her nose. She felt odd about her seeming victory. She was not satisfied or sated with Kane being on his knees, hurt, and bleeding and it was not because she wanted to pummel him again. She was bothered by his expression and the fact that he was staring at her, not with bright, delighted eyes, but with agony, hurt, and despair.

Her throat tightened and went dry. Her hands uncoiled themselves without any commands from her brain. Her nerves relaxed in someway, not looking to harm Kane any further, but the nerves also tensed from her current circumstances. She turned away from him, not wanting to see his shocked and wounded eyes anymore.

“You’re such an ass,” Isabel muttered with a crack in her voice before walking away, hoping that the forming guilt would vanish when she could no longer see him.

Kane did not utter a retort and remained stunned on the ground. The physical anguish and mental shock kept him pinned to the ground, but even if those were not there, he still would not have been able to get up from the space that he was kneeling on. His emotions, tattered and shattered, cemented him to his place on the vast, lush lawn, which was where the filming had been taking place.

Manny went over to Kane and helped him up. Momentarily, Manny considered hitting Kane with an “I toldja so,” but he could see that it was not the time for that. It was very rare for him to see Kane genuinely hurt, especially emotionally. Usually, the shorter fellow could laugh anything off and smile through the most severe abuse because it never fazed him.

Apparently, Kane actually felt something toward Isabel and was not just playing around with her for the simple fact that he was a pest of sorts or because she was just damn sexy. _Has Cupid managed to shoot the wild man that was Kane?_ Manny was starting to believe that an arrow was probably in the dead-center of his friend’s heart … or maybe right between the eyes, which would explain why his brain no longer worked.

“You okay?” Manny asked Kane with some concern in his voice.

“She hates me, doesn’t she?” Kane muttered and his voice cracked as his eyes watered. He was disappointed and appalled with what he knew to be a fact. He did not even have to ask the question, but maybe he was looking for some hope that things were different from what he knew.

Manny wanted to let out a loud “duh!” but it was not the time for that. He helped Kane into the house, which the smaller male did need assistance in doing. Everyone else put the set back into place to do another take of the fight scene, pretending not to notice the brooding fight choreographer. 

Isabel watched Kane go off; he was limping slightly. Blocking her lower kicks with his shins had already caught up with him. She felt a clenching around her heart; _damn guilt_ , she thought with a huff. _Wait, is it really guilt?_

 _It has to be guilt_ , Isabel told herself almost immediately. Her heart felt like it was being wrapped in razor sharp barbed wire that was being gradually tightened. There was a burning in her throat that most people would have thought was nervousness, but she marked it off as symptom of guilt as she thought that was the illness that she was currently suffering from. A grinding, boiling sensation in her stomach followed and it felt like her insides planned to devour each other.

 _Why do I feel guilty about throttling Kane?_ The fool deserved it. He had ruined one of the biggest scenes in the movie that she had invested a lot of time, effort, and thought in. She was trying to prove herself and he continuously messed everything up _._

 _He’s such a fucking jerk. And why the fuck did he have to look at me like that!_ It was not like she had enjoyed giving him what he seemed to be begging for. It was just to teach him a lesson. _So, he didn’t have any right to look at me like I did something wrong! He was the one that was wrong_ , she mentally insisted. She had only given him what he deserved. _Right, so there’s no reason for me to feel guilty_ , she insisted. It did not stop her from being that way.

Isabel only began to feel worse when Kane resumed his pesky antics the next day while sporting a lot bruises, especially dark ones on his face. As he limped around, his smile seemed to be the same to everyone, except for Isabel. He was finally leaving her alone, which she swore she wanted, but it was suddenly bothering her. He no longer flirted with her, got in her way, or even grinned that stupid, almost lazy grin at her. He kept his distance and that aggravated her, which she did not want to acknowledge because she thought that was just plain crazy. _Why the hell am I bothered by him getting away from me when that’s what the hell I wanted in the first place?_

Watching Kane from a distance, Isabel started to be consumed by the thought that the little guy was not so awful. He was pleasant to everyone, even though he flirted with all of the ladies. But, there did not seem anything real between him and any of them. He threw his money around like water, offering to take everyone out on the town every night, which most people took him up on. He never complained about anything, even if he knew that some people were hanging around him just because he paid for everything. He continued to make his usual mistakes, walking through the shots and things like that, but they did not seem so major anymore. And Isabel amazingly just felt worse about herself as she watched him.

She realized that Kane probably thought that she was a jackass. It would explain why he was now avoiding her. He probably hated her now and that idea did not sit well with her any more than her guilt did. She felt such turmoil inside of her, like her insides were forever falling into a bottomless pit while churning against each other. _How the hell can such a pest of a man cause such a reaction inside of me? Maybe it’s because he’s not really be a pest_ , she dared to consider.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel felt unsure of herself, which was not a common occurrence. In fact, it typically only happened when she was in the presence of her mother. But, her mother was thousands of miles away and there was a large ocean between them, thankfully. Kane was the cause of her current anxiety and it seemed like there was just as much distance between the two of them as there was between her and her mother. Yet, there was only a door between them; a rather elaborate, elegantly designed pair of doors, but only a door nonetheless.

The crew was gone, moving on to a new location. She had stayed behind, making up the excuse that she wanted to explore Italy for a few days. She assured them that she would meet them back in the States before they needed her again. No one argued with her, knowing Isabel to be a woman of her word and very professional when it came to her business. Besides, there was no way that she would screw up her first time doing her job on her own. She just did not want to leave on a sour note, which was why she was standing outside of the door of the room that Kane was currently in.

Isabel took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. Kane answered in his lighthearted voice, granting whoever was at the door permission to enter. Isabel wordlessly went into the room, finding out that it was little gym. Kane was on the far side of the room, kicking a heavy bag. _He has good form_ , she noted. Apparently, he was not a total idiot, although she would have guessed that he had some intelligence in hand-to-hand combat if she had been looking to give him any type of credit in regards to anything at all. 

“Oh, hey … Isabel,” Kane said when he noticed who came in. Saying her full name seemed to come as an afterthought and it did not roll well off of his tongue. It was almost as if he was speaking another language that he did not know well when saying her name.

“I’m sorry if I’m interrupting,” Isabel replied as he halted his exercise to pay her some mind, although she did not seem to have his full attention. His purple eyes wandered about the room, the ceiling, and floor before eventually resting on her briefly.

“Oh, no. I just thought everyone was gone and I needed something to do. Not much fun in this place when I’m the only one around,” Kane explained with a half-smile and a shrug.

Isabel nodded; it was something that she could guess at, but not understand. She imagined that being alone in such a vast mansion was a lonely existence. It had not occurred to her that he lived there on his own until now. There were no servants around and Kane did not seem to have any family. She had learned through Manny that Kane’s parents had died less than a year ago in a car accident and his extended family just left him to his own devices because he seemed to like it that way and he was a bit of a black sheep. He was actually known as “the wild count” by his friends and family. He seemed to like being on his own, but now that she thought about it, he had to get lonely sometimes if it was just him around.

“So, what can I do for you … Isabel?” Kane asked, once again forcing her full name out of his mouth.

Isabel shifted uncomfortably on the balls of her feet, her black sandals making a slight clicking noise because of the movement. His tone was making her feel uneasy and she felt like she had made a mistake coming to set things straight with him. As soon as that thought entered her mind, she gathered her resolve. She could not leave there, allowing him to believe that she was the devil incarnate. After all, she was actually pretty friendly if given the chance.

“I just came in because I wanted to say sorry,” Isabel informed him, forcing out the apology as if it was offensive. Despite the fact that she could admit fault if it was necessary, she was not in the habit of apologizing and disliked it a great deal. Her tongue had to force the words passed her teeth, which also tried to offer up some resistance to keep her from speaking that dreaded, awful word.

“Sorry? For what?” Kane asked curiously with round, violet eyes, as if he honestly did not know what she might be apologizing for. Manny had him convinced that everything that happened was his fault for bothering Isabel after being told several times that she was under a lot stress and serious pressure. He agreed with that assessment. He was pressing her at a terrible time, a bad time that he was vaguely aware of and did not seem to respect, so she had been in the right to flatten him after a while.

“The way I’ve been treating you. I mean, you’re annoying as hell. Don’t get me wrong. You are fucking annoying. But, I’ve been really mean to you and you deserve most of it,” Isabel said and she would have continued, but Kane cut in.

“Um … so, why are you sorry again?” the auburn-haired male inquired while scratching the top of his head. “After all, it sounds like according to you, it’s all my fault, just like Manny said.”

“Sorry, this apology isn’t going the way I want it to either. I don’t think you’re a total jerk, though and I don’t want you to think I am,” Isabel explained, going simple to avoid getting into the fact that she did think that he was irksome and wanted him to very aware of that fact.

Kane shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t think you’re a jerk at all,” he tried to assure her.

“Okay, that’s good. I don’t want you to hate me or anything,” she said with a small smile and a light in her emerald eyes that showed relief. “I mean, I’m not a horrible person or anything and I don’t want anyone to think that … unless, of course, I hate them or something. But, the point is, I don’t want you to hate me.”

“Hate you?” Kane echoed, twisting up his mouth and regarding her as if she were insane. _Hate her? Yeah, right_. It was not possible. Someone that as interesting and lovely as she was could only be a matter of intrigue for him, and that was at the least. He did not even conceive what the most was that could have laid between them.

“You do hate me?” Isabel asked because she could not place his tone.

Kane did not respond. He marched over to Isabel and looked up at her; it was a bit embarrassing to him that she, the object of his interest, was so much taller than he was. It was bad enough that he thought she detested him, but to not measure up to her physically was not helping him as far as he was concerned. After she had dropped him that last time, he started considering that she did not respond to him as he would like because he was short, which he thought might be seen as a sign of being unmanly. Someone like her probably went for the tall, dark, and handsome type; _well, two out of three can’t be so bad_ , or so he hoped.

“You’re kidding, right? Hate you? Yeah right,” Kane replied with a smile and a scoff to brush that idea off.

Isabel almost sighed in relief, but she caught herself. With him standing so close now, she could smell the effort of his workout. It was subtle, but attention grabbing, in a good way; _suits him perfectly actually_. She eyed him studiously, finally taking in his complete form. Yes, he was short, but he was built wide at the shoulders. He was wearing a sleeveless tee-shirt, so she could not see his torso, but his arms were plainly on display and they were thick and cut with muscle. She suspected that his chest and abdomen was the same. As she recalled punching him in the stomach, she could remember her fist colliding with tight muscles. _He’s probably ripped under that shirt_ , she thought; she tried to ignore the excitement that rushed through her with that notion. It did not work.

Isabel flushed at the thought of Kane without his shirt and then she shook that away before the blush was very noticeable on her pale skin. To get that off of her mind, she did something awkward. She placed her hand on the top of his head and petted him, almost like a pet or a small child.

Kane felt the hand on his head and his jaw tensed. He caught himself before he frowned because he did not want to totally wreck the moment, even though she was doing a good job of without his help. He already thought that she looked at him as less of a man for his height and now she was petting him. He took a breath to remain calm and tried his best to smile at her, but found the expression less than forthcoming. 

“Glad we cleared that up then,” Isabel stated with a bright smile as she continued to caress his head.

 _She has such a pretty smile. Now, if only she’d stop fucking petting me like I was a goddamn toy poodle_.“Now, we’ve got one other matter to clear up,” Kane commented.

“What other matter?” she asked curiously, raising an elegant eyebrow.

Kane’s mouth was on hers before she realized what was going on. Her first instinct was to push him away, but before she could act on that, she noticed that his lips were sweet and gentle against her own. It was not a harsh embrace in any way, but delightful, almost loving. So, instead of forcing him away from her, she returned the kiss, pressing his head to her since her hand was already resting on his head. The sensation caused a moan between them, but it was too low for them to know who the culprit was. They ended up pulling away for air after a minute.

“God, you are so damn hot,” Kane said in a heated whisper.

“This is what you want from me?” Isabel inquired, her voice low and breathy. She did not sound insulted, only curious. She supposed that it made some sense; maybe he had been being a pest because he thought that she would find it cute. Somewhere underneath all of her annoyance, deep underneath it, a part of her did think that he was just plain adorable.

“If you don’t want it, you’re free to leave right now and never see me again, Bella,” he pointed out. He would not attempt to force her into anything or even lead her on. If she did not want him, then he would accept it. _Of course, I won’t like it_.

Isabel pondered the matter for a couple of seconds, mentally and sensuously. Her mind and body were not adverse to the idea of being with Kane. He was a fascinating little fellow with tantalizing body and interesting personality, even if he was a pest. He was not a bad guy from what she could tell. Plus, his kiss was just about the most pleasant thing that she could think of at the moment. It sent shivers through her that she never considered possible and she honestly wanted more.

The raven-haired beauty leaned down and planted a blazing kiss on Kane’s soft lips. It was his turn to be shocked; part of him actually thought that she would walk away from him. That fear-induced thought was banished from his skull when her mouth was on his, kissing him fiercely, almost possessively. She cupped his oval-shaped face with her hands and gently rubbed his jaw as their mouths continued to move against each other in a passionate way like heated whirlpools mixing, sending warmth through out both of their bodies. They craved more and the touch became hotter, threatening to overwhelm them.

Kane began gently lapping at Isabel delicious, full lips like a cat taking in milk. She gave him what he desired, opening her mouth for him to enter. His tongue attacked hers with a vigor that she did not expect. The contact was intense, making it seem like lightning had shot through them. The energy that she felt thanks to him made her want to touch his skin, caress his body, and merge with him.

She moved her hands from his face and strokedhis torso with some pressure. Mentally, she frowned because his shirt was in the way of the terrain that she wished to explore. She decided to move the cotton barrier without his permission, having to break the contact from their kiss to do so. He whined as her lips abandoned his until he realized what she was doing. As soon as the shirt was gone, her greedy hands were on his firm chest, her fingers loving the smooth, olive skin while her lips began pressing hot kisses to his jaw.

“Bella …” Kane muttered, panting slightly because of her attention. It felt like he was being massaged by cool river water on a hot day, even though the rubbing was serving to ignite his desire further. He was not too sure what he really wanted to say thanks to those distracting fingers of her. It would seem that her hands could do much more than bruise his form.

“What?” Isabel asked with a slight growl, almost as if she was annoyed. He was taking her from some rather interesting work in her opinion. He felt perfect; it was the only way that she could think to describe it. Touching him felt like she was touching a solid cloud, soft, but stable and strong.

“Should we go to my room or were you just expressing hatred for my shirt?” Kane inquired, hoping that she wanted the latter, even though he knew how she felt about his clothing.

“Room,” she answered without thinking. It was what she wanted and she did not need to think on it. She was glad that he brought it up or she might have just jumped him in his home gym.

Kane grabbed Isabel by the hand, not having to be told twice. He pulled her out of the gym and they had to go down a long hall that was covered in several paintings; they had been his mother’s decorating scheme, like the ivory and golden walls mimicking the palaces of ancient Rome, but he certainly liked all of it. They even passed a couple of marble statues. Entering his room was like entering a different world from the rest of the house.

Kane’s bedroom was expectedly dirty, clothing thrown about the place, magazines littering the floor, and sporting equipment everywhere. Isabel did not care about the state of the room, not even taking in the setup. She just needed to know where the bed was and it was at the back of the room. She pushed him onto the messy king-sized bed, shifting the black, crumbled comforter more than before. Before he could even figure out what just happened, she descended upon him, burying him in a burning, hot, romantic kiss. Her hands returned to a place that they decided was great to be, Kane’s ripped chest.

Kane surprisingly met her energy with … some of his own; it was more energy than she was used to him putting into something. He moved his hands to her shirt, taking apart the buttons, but he was going too slowly for her tastes. She pulled away from him and made short work of her own white blouse, flinging it somewhere behind her to become friendly with his dirty clothes. She also took off her lacy white bra because she did not want to wait for him to do it; it might have taken all night if left to him after all. She definitely would not be able to last that long.

Purple eyes opened wide with appreciation when they beheld the pale bounty that was Isabel’s torso; his mouth followed suit. She smiled softly to herself, enjoying his reaction to her, although it was not an atypical response to her. It just meant a lot coming from him for some reason that she did not know and really had no intention of thinking on right now.

“If you like what you see, feel free to touch,” Isabel whispered to Kane in a seductive tone before placing a small peck to his still-gaping mouth.

Once again, the auburn-haired male did not need to be told twice. He filled his hands with her, just holding her for a few seconds with an awed expression. His hands began to caressing her and it felt so good, inflaming her passion-fueled body, but he was agonizingly slow. _God, was he a tortoise in a past life?_ He was overwhelming her with desire and ache from his pace.

“Kane,” she said in a growl with burning emerald eyes.

“Yeah?” he asked in a distant tone, watching his hands move across her body. He was very intent on his current task and focused on her body as if she were some puzzle that he would solve come Hell or high water.

“I’m on fucking fire and you’re only making it worse instead of putting it out. Stop being a bastard. More,” she demanded with another growl.

“More? You want more from me?” he inquired with a wrinkled brow as if he were surprised, but she knew that he was teasing her. He chuckled and moved his thumbs to a pair of pink pearls crying out for his attention.

She hissed and arched into his touch. “Don’t fucking joke around,” she ordered with a snarl, getting more frustrated thanks to him and his smooth, heavenly touch.

Kane did not take offense to her commanding him and he tried to give her more. She noticed the effort, but he still was not going fast enough for her. He was adding the perfect amount of pressure and touching all of the right places, but dear god, he needed to go faster. She wondered if he was doing it on purpose, getting revenge for all of the things that she had done to him.

“Kane, you bastard,” she hissed and she did not get a chance to scold him further because he was suddenly attached to her, hands and mouth. “You wonderful bastard,” she corrected herself in a long breath.

Isabel actually whimpered like an enchanted puppy as Kane worked her out like he was doing his heavy bag before she showed up, but in a much better way of course. She had never experienced anything like Kane was doing, like he was turning her inside out and playing wonderfully romantic music with her body, making her feel like magic was coursing through her veins. Now, if only he could just pick up the pace to bring the music to the high point, she would never say another bad word against him … that night anyway. Kane continued to pluck her strings, gently and professionally, but never reached the speed that she wanted. She was too busy panting and whimpering to scold him for acting as if thick molasses flowed through his veins. She did cry out for more, but he never delivered. She suspected it was because it just was not in his nature to go beyond the pace that he was currently moving.

“Kane …” she actually whined. _What the fuck? I did not just do that!_

Kane was totally wrapped up in what he was doing, focusing solely on touching Isabel as if it would bring him the answers to the meaning of life. Her pleas never even reached his ears, let alone his brain. He was hell bent on memorizing the perfect, soft, creamy flesh exposed to him with his mouth and hands, especially since he had been granted exploration rights. He was especially drawn to the pebbled peaks of her supple breasts and his tongue and fingers played with each with extreme fascination. He wanted to take her all in.

Being so close to her, he noticed that she smelled like spicy strawberries; the spice undoubtedly came from his actions. As he tasted her, he was certain that he now knew what ambrosia was like or maybe even that he had gone beyond the food of the gods. In fact, as his tongue wrapped around a small, delicate light pink gem, he decided that the king of the gods himself would be jealous of the feast that Kane had before him.

Isabel moaned and the sound was divine to Kane. He wanted more of the noise, more of her flesh, more of everything. He feared that he might never be able to let her go, but could not bring himself to stop. He had to have all of her and he had to savor her for as long as possible.

In her frustration, Isabel took control before Kane could wind her any tighter and then just leave her more taught than finely played as he continued to strum her body like some masterful instrument. The auburn-haired young man merely smiled with a glazed look in his eyes, appearing like he was intoxicated, as Isabel forced him back further onto the bed and then ripped his pants away as if they had been warm-up breakaways that athletes wore. In any other situation, he might have wondered if he would ever be able to wear them again. Under current conditions though, he was glad to be rid of those damned pants. And much to his delight, she got rid of her own damned peddle-pusher pants, too, and her panties with them.

Kane’s mouth practically hit the floor, having to go through the bed in the process, as she made herself bare before him. Isabel smirked like a predator when she saw his expression, although on the inside she was pretty much mirroring his reaction. She was a bit thankful that she could hide her emotions well because she did not want Kane to get full of himself for the simple fact that she was impressed with all that was him. It just would not sit well with her if he were aware that she thought that he was picture perfect. She guessed that he had been made short just to give him a physical human flaw.

“Bella … you are a goddess,” Kane stated, sounding in awe of her, as if he actually wanted to worship her.

Isabel found herself doing something quite unlike herself, she blushed at his words. She did not know why or how Kane had gotten such a reaction out of her, but she did not mind it for the moment. She decided to just accept the compliment, flattered that he would openly say such a thing as if it was the stone-cold truth.

“You read that off a matchbook or something?” Isabel teased him when she recalled how to make words.

“Aw, you actually think I can read. Your opinion of me must be on the rise,” he shot right back with a small smile.

“Shut up,” she playfully ordered him and then leaned down to enthusiastically kiss him before he could say anything else.

Kane’s reaction to the kiss was instant, returning it with fervor as if that was an instinct. The raven-haired female plundered his mouth with her tongue like an enthused bandit trying to steal all his riches. Kane, on the other hand, moved around her mouth like a beach bum looking for a place to take a nap. The two styles did not clash surprisingly enough.

Kane took the hint that he was deeply desired by her while Isabel understood that underneath Kane’s sloth-like, annoying nature, there was a man that wanted to be sweet and tender with her. She mentally conceded that he could be just that with her, but she was taking the reins for what was happening that night. Kane did not object, giving into her as he often did when she went to strike him a first time. He just surrendered his will to his goddess.

“Holy shit!” Kane uncharacteristically cursed rather loudly as he was suddenly and seemingly unsuspectingly sheathed in her magnificent warmth. He had achieved Elysium without even knowing it; hell, he certainly had not expected it.

Isabel chuckled a bit, having to force the amused sound out considering the fact that she was really right with Kane on the feeling of their union. Her body was practically singing with joy from connecting with him. She shook slightly as every nerve ending in her body hummed with pleasure.

He figured there should be a “welcome to paradise” sign somewhere to have at least warned him that things would feel so incredible. Isabel thought that such a thing would have been a good idea, although the slight tremble in her leg just from mounting him was somewhat of a warning for her. Kane was glad that she did not start moving immediately lest he have a major cardio-episode from the shock and overload of pleasure; a heart-attack certainly would have ruined the night, after all. He had to adjust almost as much as she did to their newly discovered state of heavenly bliss. Unfortunately for him, she was quicker to get herself together and she began to rock her hips before his mind was ready for the ecstasy shooting through him like a high-speed rifle bullet.

“No, no, no!” Kane begged, putting his hand on her strong thighs with the hope that he would get her to cease her divine actions. His voice got stuck in his throat and he clutched her legs as his brain was overloaded with pleasure.

“Too slow, Kane,” Isabel teased him, as if she knew exactly why he was pleading with her to stop.

Isabel persisted, moaning loudly as she did so, if only to get on his nerves while making her own nerves dance in elation. She did hope that the decision to taunt him did not come back to haunt her with him finishing before she had a chance to do so. It did not matter anyway since she could not stop now that she started.

“Oh,” she groaned deeply and he squeezed her harder as the sounds escaped her throat.

“God, Bella,” he growled. “I need … I need a second … I need … to gather … myself …”

Kane’s begging fell upon deaf ears. He gave up after a few seconds and was lost forever in a delighted confusion, never able to catch up to her. He threw his head back, tried to keep his eyes open to watch her undulate on top of him. He could not even work up the energy to move his hands to her tantalizingly bouncing breasts.

For some reason, the fact that he just surrendered to her and also never seemed to reach her pleased Isabel. Mentally, she had to smile while verbally all she could do was moan and grunt, which seemed to be all he could do also. She pushed harder against him, possessing him, and took one of his hands from her leg and moved it to her torso. She used his hand to caress herself.

Isabel’s movements stated soundly that she was the one in charge and Kane could not challenge that; he actually would not have challenged it if he could. He was not looking to compete with her, which was something new to her since the few lovers that she had in life were intimidated by her and tried to keep up or dominate her to prove their worth. Kane seemed to think that he did not have anything to prove. There was some odd form of confidence in his lack of trying, which she noticed and would never figure out why, but she found it sexy. He just lay there for her, presenting himself to her like a sacrifice, which ignited the fire in her veins to the point of boiling. She growled as she increased her rhythm and he groaned.

“God, Bella …” he voice got caught in his throat as sheen layer of sweat built up all over his body. She leaned down to claim his mouth and to keep him from saying that ridiculous pet name again.

The most that Kane did throughout their intense activity was reach up to caress Isabel whenever she stopped guiding his hands. She was quite all right with him doing that, even though he was still going at his same slow pace. She whimpered and whined as he kneaded and stroked all sorts of flesh bits on her body. A sweat built on her powerful form while she made sure to keep going, crashing her hips against his in a steady, mind-numbing rate while he kept on caressing her, revering her with his large, strong hands.

Kane could barely think as time pressed on, along with Isabel, and his body began to sweat even more from the heat blazing in and around him. He realized before anything was even over that he had been caught in a trap. He was snared and never getting away. She had him, had his soul within her; he was hers. She was now his goddess and he, a lowly, devote worshipper of the divine.

The auburn-haired teen was distracted from his own plight as he noticed Isabel shuddering above him, clenching around him, threatening to tear him from heaven before he desired to leave. She placed her palms on his chest, pressing in his ribs, to keep herself balanced. He did not mind, even though it caused him a little breathing trouble. It certainly kept him from moaning loudly and possibly following her over the edge. Seconds later, when she had finally managed to stop seeing nothing but white and feeling liquid bliss course through her body like a raging river, she realized that he was still there for her. She looked at him with tired, but amazed eyes.

Kane seemed to read her thoughts through her emeralds eyes and he just shrugged his shoulders, not sure if he needed to say anything since he doubted that she upset with him for being able to hold off. She frowned, as if she was vexed with him, but then smiled wickedly at him as she picked up her pace. _Damn it to fucking hell_ , he hollered in his mind; she was a demon as much as she was a goddess. Kane gritted his teeth and an almost animalistic growl escaped his throat as he tried to hold on to what little sanity he had left since she was introduced to him. No such luck, though.

Isabel arched her body, came in at a different angle, and yelped in pleasure as she hit a new spot. Kane was so surprised by the noise that escaped her mouth that all thoughts flew out of his head while his essence escaped him in a heated rush. Isabel, feeling the full affect of her actions also, shuddered while throwing her head back before collapsing onto Kane in exhaustion. His stocky frame had no problem supporting her and he smiled. _I wish she would never let go._ He politely covered her with a sheet that was near his hands.

“Don’t take this as meaning I don’t think you’re annoying or anything,” she remarked with a smile that he could not see because she had her head buried in his comfortable, firm chest.

“Don’t worry since I don’t recall accepting your apology, anyway,” he retorted while bringing a hand up to stroke her hair.

Isabel did not respond to that, having fallen sleep right after hearing that last sentence. He was just so comfortable, his heartbeat in her ear was soothing, and the way that he was caressing her head had not helped in keeping her awake. Kane stayed awake a little while longer, enjoying having her body pressed closely against his own. Part of him knew that what happened was a fluke of nature, once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, but another part of him dared to hope that something more would come of things. After all, the woman on top of him owned him now and he was willing to bet that she was will aware of it. He would have been surprised to find out that she assumed that she was little more than a bit of entertainment for Kane and she could not fault him for that because she would later tell herself that he had been the same for her.

-8-8-8-8-

Eighteen-year-old Kane Go was having lunch with his good friend Manny. They were sitting at an outdoor café. They were dressed in shorts and sleeveless t-shirts because it was blazing hot, which was surprising for the end of the summer.

“So, what’s the deal with the movie? You finished shooting and everything?” Kane asked curiously while jamming a fist full of fries in his mouth. It was hard to believe that the man was of noble birth.

“Yeah, finished that last month. It’s a good thing, too,” Manny answered while adjusting the brim of his white baseball cap. He bent it more, giving it more of a curve.

“Why is it a good thing?” Kane inquired as he picked up his soda to help the fries go down.

“The woman that hates your guts, remember her?” the taller man countered as he leaned forward a bit.

Kane sighed, a dreamy look clouding his eyes. “Bella …” he whispered fondly. He still had dreams about his night with her, and he lost a lot of sleep and had to do a lot of laundry thanks to them.

“Yeah … Bella,’“ Manny commented dryly while shaking his head. “Still a glutton for punishment, I see.”

“Especially when it comes to her. So, what happened with her?” Kane asked, sounding almost concerned. He hoped that his friend did not have bad news about his goddess.

“She started getting sick toward the end of the filming. She had to go back home. I heard a rumor that she’s actually pregnant,” the taller male explained with an awkward chuckle. “Can’t imagine her with a kid, but then again, I couldn’t really imagine her mom with a kid either when I met her. Just a scary-ass family, that is.” He shook his head.

“Pregnant?” Kane echoed with his face scrunched up. _Could it really be true? No, she would’ve said something to me, right? Come on_ ; his brain pointed out that it was Isabel he was thinking about. _Of course she’s not going to say anything! She’s going to be difficult, doy!_

“Yeah, pregnant. I can’t believe it. I mean, I can’t imagine what kinda little monster Iz would have,” Manny remarked with a laugh. He could imagine a mini-version of her walking about, scaring the shit out of people…sort of like she was with her own mother.

“How many months?” the auburn-haired teen asked curiously.

“I dunno. She’s real secretive about shit. Rumors say she’s not that far along, like three months or some shit like that. I dunno,” Manny repeated with a shrug. “Good thing I finished my movie before this shit came up. The fight scenes she made are fucking awesome. You gotta see this movie.” He beamed as he spoke, a large grin plastered on his face.

Kane was more thinking about the rumors of Isabel being pregnant than anything else coming out of Manny’s mouth about his movie. But, he did manage to respond, “I’ll be in the States soon. I wanna go rafting down the Colorado River, anyway.”

“Well, you need to stop by my place first. See the movie before you try to kill yourself,” the skinny, chocolate-colored male commented with a friendly, but teasing smile.

“I don’t know about that,” Kane said, considering what he was already planning. Death might be in the cards as soon as he touched down in the States.

Manny’s face twisted a bit as he curled his mouth up. “Why?”

Kane answered quite honestly with a straight face and everything. “Well, my hope is that you’ll drop Bella’s address on me and I can see her before anything else.”

Manny grimaced. “What the hell do you wanna see her for? She kicked your ass the last time you paid her a little attention,” he pointed out in a frantic tone while moving his hands about wildly. “As crazy and annoying as you are, Kane, I don’t want you dead or something and you know that’s what’ll happen if you bother Isabel again! She will fucking kill you and then eat you to make sure you’re gone! I mean, don’t get me wrong, she be sweet as hell, but she’s demonic and she’ll kill you. Fucking kill you. You don’t want no parts of that.”

Kane did not miss a beat and threw on his best insane grin. “I miss the attention from a very beautiful woman.”

“Kane … the woman hates you,” Manny reminded him bluntly. He was not looking to spare Kane’s feelings because he wanted to discourage the smaller male from thinking about Isabel again. As far as Manny knew, the last time Isabel and Kane interacted with each other, Kane was almost beaten to death. The only reason he survived was because Isabel seemed to be disgusted with beating on an obviously defeated opponent.

“Hate is a relative term,” Kane remarked with a laugh. His royal purple eyes had the nerve to shine.

Manny could not believe the man sitting across from him and openly gawked at Kane as if he was some kind of moron. “Relative? The woman whipped your stocky ass in your own home the last time she spoke to you.”

Kane shrugged. “That may be, but I have unfinished business with Bella,” he stated. “So, if you would just give me her address, I won’t even tell her whodunit.”

“You damn right you won’t!” Manny hollered quite seriously. He could only imagine what would happen to him if Isabel knew that he told an annoyance like Kane where she lived.

The short male smiled. “So, that’s a yes?”

Manny sighed. “I’m not coming to your funeral,” he grumbled. “Gimme a goddamn pen and paper.”

Kane smiled and supplied his friend with the requested items. Manny wrote down an address and tried to warn Kane that he would find Isabel there and someone much worse than Isabel, too. Kane waved him off; _who could possibly be worse than my Bella?_

“You are such a dead man. They’ll probably never even find your body. I wanted you to see the movie too,” Manny sighed miserably while shaking his head.

-8-8-8-8-

“Hold on!” Isabel barked as a rhythmic pounding was beaten on the poor front door. Heaven knew the damned thing took enough abuse from her and her sister, so it did not need strangers trying to murder it.

The knocking did not stop, much to her annoyance. She growled as she nearly ripped the door off the hinges when she opened it, not bothering to find out who was there first. Her eyebrow twitched as a scowl set in on her face and she was about to scream her head off at the dead man on her front porch, but she stopped when she saw who it was.

“Hey, Bella,” Kane greeted her with his usual dopey grin. He looked a little less like a bum for once. He was dressed neatly in matching clothes, which were just some dark blue jean shorts and a basketball jersey with a matching cap. He was holding a surprise, too – a bouquet of flowers.

“Kane, what the fuck are you doing here? And what the fuck are those?” Isabel demanded as she glared at the flowers. She folded her arms across her chest as her stance became defensive and tense.

“Peace offering?” Kane said with a pathetic shrug, not knowing what else to say or do. A voice in the back of his head told him that flowers were not the way to go with Isabel, but he figured that it would be better than showing up on her door with an engagement ring. Flowers would probably just get him punched while an expensive ring probably would have more than likely gotten him sent to the hospital.

“I think we’ve had enough ‘peace’ between us, don’t you think?” Isabel inquired, sounding a bit bitter, much to his surprise.

Kane blinked hard. “I don’t think there’d ever be enough ‘peace’ between us if that’s the case,” he remarked, lecherous grin in place.

Isabel fell right in line, punching him hard in the shoulder. “Idiot,” she grumbled.

“Izzie, who is that?” a voice called from the back of the house.

“Nobody!” Isabel replied, looking Kane dead in the eye.

Kane pretended to pout. “So mean to me!” he whined, making two tight fists. “Izzie, huh? That’s a cute nickname, but I like Bella so much better.” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Isabel growled. “Kane, if you don’t get the fuck off my doorstep in the next five seconds, I’m shoving those flowers up your ass and punching your fucking teeth down your throat,” she promised him.

The auburn-haired teen actually had to think about it, scratching the side of his face as he did so, which just annoyed Isabel further. _What the hell is there to think about? What the hell is wrong with Kane and why the hell is he even here?_ Her eyebrow twitched again and then she turned her head sharply, looking into the house. She could hear footsteps approaching.

“Kane, leave me the fuck alone,” Isabel order and was about to slam the door in his face, but he seemed to sense the move coming.

The short male put his foot in the door and grunted as he almost lost his toes. He caught the door with his hand now that his foot gave him some space to do so. He stared at Isabel with big, concerned violet eyes.

“Bella, why are you acting like this?” he asked in a rare moment of seriousness. He understood that they were not quite friends, but he thought that they had parted on better terms than Isabel was displaying.

“Kane, please,” Isabel begged him in a surprisingly gentle tone. Her eyes pled with him to just leave, save himself.

“Bella,” he repeated, not taking the hint.

“Izzie, what the hell are you doing? I thought you said there was no one at the door.”

“Dammit,” Isabel muttered and she turned around to face a woman that she pretty much looked just like, except they had different eye color.

Isabel’s mother was a tall, pale woman just like she was. Her hair was black and down her back, just like Isabel’s onyx mane. They looked so similar that it only made sense that Isabel would be named after the woman. They stood the same, like they could take out a bus at full speed. They even seemed to give off the same aura; a frightening, crushing air surrounded both of them. It was almost like it should have been against the laws of physics for them to be in a room together without blowing the place apart.

The only marked difference between the mother and daughter was that her mother’s eyes were blue, like the sky, except just a bit darker. There seemed to be something just beyond the color in her eyes, something dangerous, almost mean. It was something that hid in Isabel’s jade eyes as well.

“I was just sending this crazy man away, Mommy,” the younger woman replied while making a hand movement as if she was shooing the teenage boy away.

“Crazy man?” Isabel’s mother, Isabella, echoed curiously with an arched eyebrow. She then turned her eyes to Kane. Her sapphire gaze fell hard onto the auburn-haired teen and she studied him for a moment.

Isabella saw the look in his odd purple eyes, a pleading gaze, and the flowers in his hands. He did not flinch under her gaze like most people did. He was not paying much attention to her stare, actually. His eyes stayed trained on her daughter. She arched an eyebrow briefly because of his behavior. _Interesting_ , she thought; _well, slightly interesting, anyway_.

“Yeah, crazy man,” Isabel insisted, nodding to emphasize her point.

“Step away from the door, Isabella,” her mother commanded without bothering to look at her daughter.

The use of her full name told Isabel not to argue with her mother. So, she wisely stepped away from the door. The older woman opened the door wider to fully take in Kane. She looked at him blandly, not impressed with the little man. He still did not react to her gaze.

“What can I do for you?” Isabella asked the male teen.

“I’m kinda here to talk to Isabel,” he explained, nodding toward the aforementioned female.

“Why don’t you come in then,” Isabella suggested, motioning to the inside of the house. She was curious about the young man and wondered why her daughter was trying to so hard to keep her from finding out about him.

Kane shrugged. “That’d be great,” he agreed, even though Isabel was cutting him a come-in-and-die look.

Isabel growled and threw her hands up in defeat. Then she decided that if he wanted to die, that was his decision. _I am not the little idiot’s keeper, after all_.

“Take your shoes off,” Isabella ordered while she walked deeper into the house, expecting Kane to follow.

Kane nodded and stepped in. He looked to the side to see there was a mat for shoes. He kicked off his sneakers and placed them next to the other shoes while Isabel closed the door. He then turned to her with his dopey grin back in place.

“I can see why you look so good. Your mom is fucking hot,” Kane commented without shame.

Isabella heard the remark and whipped around just to in time to see her daughter punching Kane in the face. He fell back against the door, but continued smiling. Isabel frowned and it seemed like there was smoke coming from her head, but underneath that it looked like the faintest smile was trying to tug at her lips. Isabella just took in the sight instead of saying anything.

“Idiot,” Isabel grumbled while walking into the living room after her mother.

Kane continued to grin, as if he missed being hit by the pale teenager. He removed himself from the door and trotted behind Isabel like a happy, proud puppy. The group retreated into the living room, which was painted a warm and very light blue. The carpet was almost white, but it was clearly a powder blue undertone to it.

He saw the mother and daughter sit down on the sofa, which was white. They sat in the same posture perfect, cross-legged manner. He scratched the side of his head while taking a seat in an armchair right next to the sofa.

“So, what business do you have with Isabel?” Isabella asked curiously while resting her hands on her knee.

“Um … well, it’s kinda personal,” Kane admitted. Apparently, he did have some sense of decency.

“I would assume so if you tracked her down at her home,” Isabella commented dryly. “Not many souls would brave coming to our house, no matter what the reason.”

“How did you get my address?” Isabel demanded, glaring at him. Her expression implied anger, but it seemed like she was forcing it.

“I’ve taken a vow to never reveal my source, even under threat of torture … no matter how sweet it is,” Kane replied, toothy grin in place.

“Pervert!” Isabel huffed, knowing just what he was talking about. “How about I just beat it out of you?” she proposed with a wicked smirk, holding up a ready fist.

“You only get one, Bella,” he remarked with a shrug.

“Last time I think I got more than one,” she reminded him.

“I know, you got two, right? Or was it three?” he asked with a clever smile, referring to something else entirely. She got what he was implying.

“I will fucking kill you and bury you under the house,” Isabel promised with a primal growl. _How dare he say something so vulgar with my damn mother sitting right there!_

Kane grinned, as if he was utterly delighted with that plan. “Wonderful! My ghost could haunt the place and I could watch you in your sleep. Or better still, I could watch you in the shower!”

And that earned the young man a solid punch on the top of the head from Isabel. He fell out of his seat and onto his flowers, crushing them. He frowned as he noticed rose petals falling onto the white carpet as he stood back up.

Isabella just took in the strange sight of her daughter interacting with the almost tiny young man. Isabel did not seem to be pulling her punches with him, yet he seemed to enjoy that she was hitting him. Isabella guessed that he enjoyed it for the simple fact that he was purposely saying things that he knew would get him hit. _Odd fellow_ , she thought.

“Guess giving you a smashed bouquet is kinda stupid, eh?” he asked with a bright smile.

Isabel growled while her eyebrow twitched again. _What the hell was wrong with him!_ “I don’t want your stupid flowers. What the fuck are you doing here, Kane?” she demanded to know as she sat back down.

“I kinda figured you wouldn’t want the flowers. Can I talk to you in private?” Kane requested in a serious tone.

Isabel glanced at her mother, who she could tell was not about to move. “This is about as private as things’re going to get for us,” she told him. They would get even less privacy if her sister came home sometime soon.

He chuckled a bit, sounding uncomfortable for once. Isabel cut him a look that said “I told you to leave earlier, idiot, and now look at your predicament.” He was not so put off and decided to cut to the chase rather than playing around.

“Um … so, I heard a little rumor about you,” he said; his voice came out in a grumble, despite his effort at sounding normal.

“There are a lot of rumors about me,” Isabel replied smoothly. She was not lying. She knew a lot of people, but she was not really friends with any of them, so they were all inclined to talk behind her back whenever they could. They rarely said good things, thinking that their words never got back to her.

“This is one is about you being … um … pregnant,” he informed her. 

Isabel kept on a stoic mask, but on the inside her heart pumped at an uncomfortable pace. “Who did you hear that from?” she managed to ask in her disinterested tone.

“Doesn’t matter who. Is it true?”

“What does it matter to you?” she countered with an attitude.

“Well, I was just—” he was cut off by the other teen.

“It’s not yours, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Kane’s expression and how face actually fell from those words, which stunned the mother and daughter. They did not address how his whole mood seemed to come down. Kane tried to collect himself as he spoke again, but he sounded like a shadow of his former self.

“Oh … okay. Um … sorry I bothered you …” Kane muttered as he rose to his feet in an almost mechanical manner. He still clutched his crushed bouquet to the point where his palm was being torn into by the flower stems.

Kane started for the door and Isabella cut her daughter a glare. The look seemed to be demanding to know what all that was about, but Isabel was not paying attention to her mother. She was watching Kane leave and taking in his defeated his spirit. He reminded her of when she beat him up, except ten times worse.

 _Does he want it to be his?_ Isabel wondered. “Kane, wait,” she called to him and rushed to his side.

“Yeah?” he asked in a low, sorrowful tone. His voice cracked as he spoke and he looked up at her with broken violet eyes.

“Um … maybe there’s a small chance that it is yours,” Isabel informed him in a low voice of her own. She glanced back to see if her mother was watching them. She gulped when she saw that Isabella was brazenly and intently listening in on their conversation.

“Small chance?” he inquired, sounding confused. He squinted a little, as if that would help him comprehend what she meant.

“Look, I never got the chance to explain to you, but I’ve got a somewhat steady boyfriend. The baby might be his,” she explained to him, looking down as if she was ashamed to admit such a thing.

Kane seemed to perk up, even though he was just hearing about her having a boyfriend. “But, it might be mine?” he asked with hope.

“Yeah, it might be. Don’t get your hopes up, though. Not like I want anything to do with you, anyway,” she remarked, trying her best to sound like she meant that. “I mean, I don’t even like you.”

“Obviously,” he commented with a laugh.

“Look, you little perv, I don’t like you. This wasn’t supposed to happen and the baby’s not yours, anyway. You should just go back to your own country and leave me the hell alone,” she huffed, holding her arms across her chest.

“We’ll see about that,” he replied with a smile.

“Shut up and get the hell out,” she commanded, pointing to the door and forgetting that not even thirty seconds ago she actually felt sorry for him.

Kane saluted and did as ordered, surprisingly not saying anything to get his ass kicked on the way out. He did force Isabel to take the flowers from him. She rolled her eyes, but she did not get rid of the bouquet, even when he was out the door and out of sight.

“So, cheating on Jason now?” Isabella asked in her usual neutral tone from her space on the couch. She did not sound judgmental or angry, nor did she look it.

“It was just a moment of weakness,” Isabel replied dismissively.

Isabella looked rather skeptical on that one. “This moment looks like it has two arms, two legs, a foul mouth, and odd fashion sense. The moment follows you around quite devotedly too, showing up at the house.”

“I don’t like him,” Isabel stated soundly through gritted teeth.

“Yet he might be the father of your unborn child. It’s not like you to even speak with someone you don’t like … except that pig of a man you date anyway. Not that your tastes seem to have improved with this new pest,” the mother remarked blandly. She was not too sure about Kane, but she did know that she did not like his comments about her looks to Isabel. There seemed to be something off about that kid.

Isabella did silently admit to herself that it would take more than some off-color comments to drop Kane down to Jason’s level, though. Kane did not carry that horrible air of entitlement and condescending attitude that Jason held like it was a trophy. Instead, Kane came with an aura of strange delight, happiness, and adventure. The mix did not work well from what she could tell.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Isabel muttered while looking down at her bouquet of white and red roses. _What new hell have I gotten myself into?_

-8-8-8-8-

Kane was smiling despite the fact that he had just found out rather disturbing news. It was not the fact that he might be a father, no. In fact, that possibility was why he was smiling. The disturbing news was that Isabel was in a relationship.

“My Bella is taken. This is … distressing,” he muttered to himself, but he continued on smiling.

His heart should have shaken in his chest, but it did not. Instead, he felt an odd sense of pride, even though he knew that he should feel shamed. He had slept with a taken woman, possibly impregnated her, but he did not feel that way. He felt like she chose to be with him, even though she had a boyfriend. She had picked him; his goddess picked him instead of pushing him away.

“And now she might even give me a baby.” Kane sighed dreamily. “She truly is a goddess.”

It did not even cross his mind that the baby might not be his, despite the fact that Isabel told him twice quite bluntly that the baby was not his. He was already thinking about names and clothes and just everything. _Things are gonna be great_ , he thought with a big, silly grin.

-8-8-8-8-

“Have you told Jason of this little predicament you’ve worked yourself into?” Isabella asked her daughter curiously.

It had been a little less than a week when the older woman found out that Isabel might have gotten herself knocked up by a strange little Italian boy named Kane. She still could not decide if he was better than Jason being the father. She was starting to think that Isabel should just go with her other options, especially since a child would interfere with her budding career as a martial arts choreographer. Not to mention, a child would interfere with her martial arts training, which was beyond important to their family… Despite those things, Isabella did secretly want her daughter to have the baby.

Isabella would love nothing more than to have a grandchild. Despite how big, bad, and scary she liked to act, she did not mind children. She adored them actually. She had two of her own and treated them rather good in her opinion. Sure, they were scared out of their minds of her, but she felt that was more their faults than hers. They would argue much differently.

“I’m going to tell Jason today,” Isabel replied with a sigh. They were standing on the front porch of their modest home and staring out onto the well cared for lawn. Isabel was would be moving out as soon as she found a place of her own. She was eighteen now, which in her opinion, meant that it was time to leave the nest, pregnancy or no pregnancy. She wondered how life would be on her own … with a baby. She did not think too hard on it, just allowing her natural confidence to carry her through things.

“I’d say good luck, but I’d be lying,” Isabella commented banefully as she turned in an elegant motion, her ebony mane twisting around her like a meandering river, and went back in the house.

Isabella shook her head as she made her way inside. She did not care about the wishes that were currently running through her head, which were that Isabel ended up breaking up with Jason due to her current predicament. Isabella held no love whatsoever for Jason.

She had only met the young man once, but that was enough to last quite a few lifetimes. He did not say anything particularly offensive to her when they met, but everything about him rubbed her the wrong way. The haughty look that never left his eyes, the holier-than-thou attitude that was glued to every move that he made, and the pompous, almost patronizing way that he spoke screamed of reason enough to beat his head into his ass, as far as Isabella was concerned. Her younger daughter was in agreement, as was Isabel more than half the time.

Out of that one meeting, Isabella had to be restrained by her daughters from hurting Jason. He was banned from the house and Isabella promised the next time that she saw him would not be a good one for him. It did not seem like he took her warning seriously, like he thought she was a joke. But, he wisely never returned to the house.

“And to think, she might be making this jackass a part of our family if that baby is actually his,” Isabella grumbled to herself, which let to an even more horrifying thought. “What if she marries the bastard?!” Blue eyes went wide with terror and her mouth dropped open.

Isabella quickly shook that away. She would not allow Isabel to marry Jason if the idea ever entered her head, baby or no baby. There would just be no way for her to stand that.

“Dare I hope that the baby is actually that Kane boy’s child?” Isabella wondered aloud. She still was not totally sure how she felt about Kane, but he was a step up from Jason, so she decided to go with that. At least Kane was not an arrogant, insufferable bastard.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel expected as much from her mother, leaving while making a snide remark. She called for a cab, which showed up minutes later. She took the long ride to Jason’s dorm. Usually, she would take the train to gather her thoughts and everything, but right now, the less time she had to think about things, the better. She would only piss herself off, thinking about all of the bad ways Jason could and would handle things.

Jason was a university student, and very proud of it. He threw the information around like it would get him laid, Isabel often thought. He tried to talk her into attending, sometimes implying that she was stupid for not going to college or at least that people might assume she was stupid for not being in college. She typically countered with the fact that people went to college to get good jobs, which she already had. He would then try to downplay her job since she did not have a regular, nine-to-five style career.

She supposed that it did not help Jason’s attitude that he was a popular football player, too. Not being too engrossed in collegiate pastimes, she did not really know what position he played, even though she went to all of his games. As far as she could tell, the ball went up in the air, he ran, and caught it and people loved him for that. She failed to see the big deal, but other girls would beg to differ.

Jason was quite popular with the ladies around his campus. Isabel typically did not care, although on rare occasions a little green-eyed monster would pop up in her mind. It was a very scary sight for anyone to have to deal with an upset and jealous Isabel, but she usually reduced girls to tears for hitting on Jason if she was in the right mindset for it. Little did she know, but actions like that impressed him and made him swear that she loved him, like he loved her. Of course, there were times when she doubted he knew what love was and she doubted that he loved her.

“I think he confuses his want to possess me with the idea that he loves me,” she muttered to herself. “Of course, I have to confuse something with something to still be with him most of the time.”

Isabel arrived at his dorm a little over a half-hour later. She knocked and the door was opened immediately; she was expected. Jason stood in the room, smiling as she stepped in. She doubted that he would be smiling for long.

Jason looked quite like the football player that he was: tall, with broad shoulders, and muscular, which he was showing off with his clothing. He was only wearing a pair of basketball shorts, leaving nothing to the imagination as far his arms and chest looked. He had thick muscles and rock hard abs. Isabel found herself thinking a very chilling thought: she liked Kane’s body more, even though she had only seen his body once.

Girls almost always swooned over Jason when laying eyes on him. His deep blue eyes and shiny ebony hair gave him a handsome look already, but then he had a strong jaw to go with it. He had almost statuesque features and he seemed to know it. There always seemed to be a knowing smirk on his face, especially when someone paid some attention to him.

“Hey, Iz,” Jason greeted her with a smile and a small, sweet kiss on the lips. She barely returned the gesture.

“Hey, dearest,” Isabel replied in a mumble. “We need to talk.”

“About what?” he asked curiously while motioning to a chair for her to sit down. When she did not, he frowned a little and pushed the chair toward her. His frown deepened when she still refused his gesture.

“About the baby.”

Jason grunted and nodded. “What about the baby?” he inquired, sounding a bit annoyed. There was a spark of irritation in his eyes, too. She had already told him that she was pregnant, which was a roller coaster ride all its own and he had left it pretty clear where he stood on them having a child. It had almost led to his death in fact and he was well aware of that. Yet, he still could not control his reactions at the mention of the pregnancy.

“It might not be yours,” she informed him, sounding almost as if that information was trivial.

Jason stepped back with his mouth gaped open. His deep blue eyes were wide. “What?”

She dared to repeat it. “The baby might not be yours.” _Why should he care, anyway? It was more than clear that he_ _didn’t want the baby when I told him_.

“What do you mean the baby might not be mine?” he demanded through gritted teeth. The only reason he was not yelling because the last thing he wanted was for his whole dorm to know that he was dating a whore! Funny thing was that they were speaking about the very same issue that almost got him killed when he found out that she was pregnant. “I asked you if I was the damn father and you looked at me like I was evil and like you’d have shot me with a damn cannon for even suggesting that!”

“While I was away in Italy, there was this guy…” she tried to explain, but he cut her off.

“What the heck do you mean ‘there was this guy’? You slept with some greasy, random Italian guy?” he hissed harshly. His whole body was tense, veins bulging from his neck and forehead, and his hands were balled up into tight, shaking fists.

“He wasn’t random,” she countered defensively, almost as if she were offended that he would suggest such a thing. She had gotten to know Kane a little bit before jumping in the bed with him … _not that that makes things better_ , she mentally conceded.

“He wasn’t me!” he roared in a fury. He glared down at her as if she was the lowest life form he had ever encountered.

“No shit,” she concurred. _That was probably one of the contributing factors in what happened_ , she remarked in her head.

“How can you do this to me? What the hell is wrong with you? You’re like your sister, you know that!” he shouted in a fury. A rush of red shot up his neck and enflamed his face.

Isabel’s eyes narrowed and she glared daggers at her boyfriend. “What do you mean by that?” she asked in a dangerous tone. Jason was too far gone to realize his life was on the line with his next response.

“You’re a harlot! A whore! How many other guys have you opened your legs for since we’ve been going out?” he huffed and she did not try to respond. He just kept going. “I can’t believeyou’re so easy! I should’ve known, though! I mean, look how you dress half the time! Look at the house you come from? You don’t even have a father, so of course you wouldn’t know a good man when you got one! You probably barely finished high school because you were too busy being on your back!What kind of diseases do you have? What the hell could you have given me? And then you try to pawn some guy’s baby off to me! You’re a lying whore at that! So, how many guys, huh?” he demanded.

Isabel did not bother to answer him, unless punching him directly in the jaw counted as such. A tooth flew out of his mouth as his head snapped back and he fell like a big stone. _Guess his jaw isn’t as strong as it looks. Kane would’ve taken that and fucking smiled at me right after_. Isabel walked out of the dorm room, not bothering to check on him. She scowled deeply, unable to utter a word until she was well away from him.

“Fucking prick,” Isabel growled.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabella could guess how things went with Jason when she saw her daughter’s face. She did not bother with asking about it, but she did want to know one thing. Part of her again dared to hope that Jason was out of the picture. She had never met a more annoying man in all of her life, and she had met plenty of men.

“Fuck,” Isabel groaned as she threw herself down onto the sofa.

“You killed him?” Isabella asked, holding her usual bland tone. She was ready to cheer on the inside if her daughter confirmed that Jason was dead.

“Just knocked him out … unless his skull isn’t as thick as he makes it seem,” the younger woman remarked.

Her mother nodded slightly. “So, what’re you going to do?”

“Maybe having this baby isn’t the best idea. I mean, Jason thinks I’m a whore and I lied to him about the baby being his and Kane … Kane’s not ready to be a father from what I can tell. I mean, the guy’s pretty much insane and really immature,” Isabel answered and she felt like she was being nice just saying that. Something was definitely wrong with Kane, she believed.

Isabella would not argue that Kane was not insane. From what she could tell, he was very much that, especially considering the fact that he hunted her daughter down and came to the house. Instead, she went with saying something that she knew would bother her daughter.

“At least he’s cute,” Isabella commented with a shrug.

“Mommy!” Isabel shouted in horror. Her mother thinking some guy she slept with was cute was the last thing she wanted to hear.

Isabella was very close to laughing at her daughter’s reaction, but she held it in. “You know, there are other options,” she pointed out, keeping her usual tone. She had already made the suggestion that was on her mind.

Isabel nodded, but she was frowning. The other options did not appeal to her, which her mother already knew. After all, Isabel had insisted that she was having the baby when she found out that she was pregnant. She hated to even hear the word “abortion” and had only let her mother utter it to her once, but then she had practically cut her mother in half with her words when she had stated that she was having the baby.

“If I have to, I’ll raise this baby by myself,” Isabel commented as if it was no big deal. “You raised two children on your own, so why can’t I do the same?”

“You should try to get the father in on the act if you can. A child deserves a good father and someone needs to take responsibility for knocking you up,” Isabella stated quite seriously.

 _A good father_ , Isabel echoed in her head. She had to choice between Jason and Kane. A jerk and a madman. She started to weigh her options in her head, comparing Jason to Kane. Jason seemed like he would take responsibility for the baby, but only if he was the father, because he envisioned himself a gentleman and he thought of himself as a man. He knew that a man took responsibility for his actions. So, it seemed like he would at least stick around, but he would probably resent both her and the child since he did not want the baby in the first place. Not to mention, he did not seem to think too highly of her. She could not say the same of Kane.

Kane was a party guy, from what she could tell. He liked going out every night, drinking, dancing, and generally flirting with anyone who had curves. Hell, she had once seen him hitting on an effeminate looking guy without shame. His hobbies seemed to include trying to get himself killed, saying inappropriate things to her, and trying to talk moderately attractive people out of their clothes. He did not sound like he had the makings good father.

Isabel was taken from her thoughts by someone going crazy on the front door. She could guess who that was. _Speak of the devil and he will appear_ , she thought with a chuckle as she got up to see who was there. She was not surprised to find Kane standing on the front porch with his usual stupid smile and holding some bags.

“Kane, what do you want now?” Isabel asked with a tired sigh.

“I bought diapers!” Kane explained with a large, happy smile, holding up the bags in his hands. He sounded so proud of himself a passerby might have thought he cured cancer.

“You bought … diapers?” Isabel echoed in a confused tone, like she had no clue why he might do such a thing. Well, really, she did not have a clue why he would do such a thing. It did not occur to her that a guy might take an interest in his child considering Jason had shown very little interest in the baby since finding out that she was pregnant.

“Well, I was gonna buy baby clothes, but then I realized I didn’t know what we were having. So, I asked a girl that worked at the little baby store place what I should get and she told me that we’ll need lots of diapers no matter what. So, now our baby is prepared for all the necessary wetting itself he’ll probably do,” he explained, still smiling.

“Kane …” she sighed and shook her head like he had done something wrong. She could not believe that in less than a week, he was already buying stuff for a baby that might not be his. Jason had known about the baby for almost a month and had not prepared in any noticeable way for the child. Jason also did not make it a habit to refer to the baby as “ours” either, as Kane seemed to adopt. _Hell, Jason never even asked about the baby after I told him I was pregnant a month ago!_

“I’ll just put ‘em down for you,” he offered and did not wait for her to respond.

Kane invited himself in, making it past Isabel while she was still stunned, just incredulous because of his audacity. He slipped his sneakers off and walked into the living room where Isabella was still standing. He smiled at her and greeted her in quite the cheerful manner, to which she arched an eyebrow. It was a rare day indeed when a genuine, bright smile was thrown her way.

“I just realized I never introduced myself to you properly,” Kane said to Isabella. “I’m Kane Go. Can I just call you ‘mom’?” he requested, smiling all the way through.

“You do and I’ll have no problem burying you alive in the cemetery down the street,” Isabella answered in a smooth tone, folding her arms across her chest. “What’s that you have there, Mister Kane?” she asked, being formal in a sarcastic manner.

“Diapers for our baby!” He grinned enthusiastically.

Isabella blinked, taken aback by the response and his eagerness. She turned her attention to her daughter, who was still by the door and frowning quite deeply. Kane looked over at Isabel, too, and did not seem affected by her expression or the fact that he could practically feel her sour mood from where he was.

“Where can I put these?” Kane asked curiously while looking around. He was not sure where the appropriate place was to drop diapers.

“Kane, sit down,” Isabel ordered.

 _She almost sounds upset_ , Kane noted. He was about to say something, but the look in Isabel’s emerald eyes told him just to park his ass. His butt quickly found the sofa while Isabel stormed over to him. She sat down next to him and looked him square in the eyes for a moment, searching for something from what he could tell.

Isabel decided that she wanted to see how serious Kane was. Maybe he was just playing around right now with the “our” baby and diapers and stuff like that. She did not want to have to deal with him, serious or not, if he was going to act so strange.

“Kane, I don’t think I’m going to have this baby,” she informed him in a business-like voice.

The young man’s olive-toned face scrunched up. “What do you mean?” he asked, sounding as perplexed as he looked.

“I think I’m going to have an abortion,” she said, forcing the words out of her mouth. She was not trying to toy with his emotions. She was seriously considering the idea now, even though she wanted so badly to have the baby. She was thinking about it because of the problem with Jason and Kane _. I don’t have a father for this baby and I don’t have anything steady or stable in my life right now … beyond my mother and sister, who I can’t ask to raise a child for me_. _I never thought life would or could suck this fucking much_. 

Kane’s expression pretty much fell through the floor to the center of the Earth before shifting into an odd sort of desperate fury. “You can’t do that, Bella!” he insisted with a growl.

Isabel was taken back by his passion in his words and was stunned silent momentarily. But, suddenly a familiar fire ignited in her eyes. “Who the hell do you fucking think you are to tell me what the hell to do? I can do whatever the fuck I want. I’m the one carrying the baby,” she reminded him in an arrogant tone.

Kane was set to argue, but he stopped and dropped his head in defeat. “You’re right, Bella. It’s your choice.”

The auburn-haired young man’s heart clenched tightly in his chest, feeling like barbed wire was being wrapped around his most precious organ. _No baby, no family, no nothing_ , his mind pointed out. _No, I can’t give that up, not now. I can’t give up on her, on_ us.

Isabel’s heart actually dropped to her knees when she saw Kane’s dejected expression. She put a hand to her chest, trying to will the feeling away. She glanced over, noting that her mother was still standing right there. She forced down the pain in her heart and turned her attention back to Kane.

“It is my choice,” she affirmed his statement.

“It is your choice … but, do you think that maybe you could just have the baby? If you don’t want the baby, I’ll take him and you don’t have to worry about the kid,” he said in a strong tone, shocking Isabel for the second time in less than ten seconds.

“You’ll take the kid?” she asked in a skeptical voice, her eyebrows shooting up to make her expression match her tone.

“I will!” he promised in a rock solid tone, puffing out his chest somewhat. He put his head up and looked her dead in the face. His eyes showed no sign of lying or even hesitating. He did not believe in hesitation.

“Kane, the baby might not even be yours,” she reminded him. “What if I have the baby and she isn’t yours?”

Kane sighed and rubbed his forehead momentarily. She made a point. If she had the baby and it turned out not to be his, then she would be stuck with a baby that she did not seem to want. He did not have a right to do that to her.

“I’ll take him no matter what,” he stated. His voice did not waver and the look in his eyes remained the same determined expression.

“Kane, you don’t know what you’re saying,” she argued, looking a bit concerned for him more than anything else. _Why does he want the baby so badly_ , she wondered. _What does he care?_ He could have ran off by now with nothing to worry about, yet he was there trying to take the baby from her. His reaction was the total opposite of Jason, who had all but insisted that she get an abortion when she told him about the baby. _What the hell do I do with this little idiot?_

He held his head high. “I do. If you don’t want him and he’s not mine and the other guy doesn’t want him, I’ll still take the baby.”

“What the hell are you even going to do with a baby?”

Kane smiled. “Teach him to raise Cain, of course,” he remarked.

Isabel laughed a bit. She reached over and rubbed the top of Kane’s head, forgetting that her mother was watching the whole thing. He smiled a bit, looking shy; he was not offended by her petting him like he had been the first time that she did it. She was not doing it in an uppity manner like before, but in a sort of loving one. Isabel found herself thinking the strangest thought; _he’s so damned adorable!_

“It was just a thought, Kane. You don’t have to think that extreme right now,” she said to him a low tone, as if she was trying to comfort him. She seemed to be looking to ease away his agitation, which was not something she typically did with people. Usually, she would leave a person to feel bothered and let the person work through it on his own.

“Well, in case things do get that extreme, I’m here. I know you might think I’m just a nutty, goofball, but I’m here for you, Bella. I mean, whether this kid is mine or not, I’m here for you and I’m here for the baby. I don’t know what’s going on with your boyfriend, but if you feel like you’re in this alone, you’re not. I’m here,” he promised in a gentle tone. He decided not to say any more; the way things were going, he was liable to start babbling soon enough. He could not believe how emotional she could make him get, getting him to make such odd speeches, even put him in danger of ranting. _Such power my goddess has_ , he thought.

“Thank you,” Isabel muttered from the bottom of her heart. She did not know it, but she needed those words. She felt lighter physically and emotionally.

“No problem! So, what other stuff should I go out and buy?” Kane asked curiously, grin back in place. He was trying to get things back to normal now.

“Are you serious?” she countered with a raise eyebrow.

“Very much so. You can give me a list,” he proposed.

“Well, you’ll have to wait. You’re not the only one that wants to buy stuff for this baby,” she pointed out. Her sister had been going on shopping sprees for the child ever since she found out about the baby. Her mother had even been buying a few things.

Kane shrugged. “I can see your point. Well, is there anything I can get for you?”

Isabel decided to send Kane out for lunch since he was in such a helpful mood. She smiled a bit as he left. Her mother walked up to her when Kane was out the door and the door was shut.

“You know, I think you like him,” Isabella commented. It was the only way to explain the behavior that she just witnessed in her opinion.

“I don’t,” Isabel insisted with a frown. 

Isabella smiled, a downright wicked expression. She looked like someone that ate babies for a hobby with the look on her face. Isabel actually took a step back; it was a common reaction when her mother smiled.

“I must say, I like him more than Jason,” Isabella admitted. For once, she was not looking to just tease Isabel, which she thoroughly enjoyed all of the time. She was being honest. There was something about Kane that was…almost likeable.

“I could gather that,” the younger woman replied dryly. After all, her mother had not threatened to break his legs if he ever came back in the house; she had promised a much worse fate to Jason should he ever darken her doorstep again.

“He obviously wants the baby and is quite happy to do anything you say. I haven’t seen signs that Jason even thinks about the child. So, with luck, out of our choices, he’s the father,” Isabella stated effortlessly.

“With luck, out of our choices, this baby was immaculately conceived,” Isabel retorted, rolling her eyes.

Isabella chimed right back in. “I believe one has to be a virgin for that and considering the mess you’re in, I think it’s safe to assume you’re no virgin.”

Isabel rolled her eyes. She hoped that her mother did not have anything else to say. Isabella did seem to consider speaking, but she supposed that Isabel was suffering enough as it was, so she would hold off saying some of the nastier things on her mind. Still she had one last thing to add.

“At least Kane is cute and trying while Jason is just trying,” Isabella stated before walking away.

“Mommy!” Isabel hollered. She shuddered in disgust; she really needed her mother to stop commenting on the looks of a guy that she slept with. It did not help matters that she had already thought he was adorable. She did not need her mother confirming those thoughts with her own input. She shook those notions away; she had bigger things to worry about.

-8-8-8-8-

Over the next few weeks, Isabel tried to get in touch with Jason. He was not taking her calls, so she stopped trying after a while. She refused to chase him. She never chased him. He was probably happy about that now.

She recalled over and over how Jason had not been too thrilled back when she told him that she was pregnant.

_Jason’s mouth hit the floor as he jumped to his feet. “What do you mean you’re pregnant? You can’t be pregnant! We can’t have a kid now! I’m still at school and I want to play football professionally. This would be a PR nightmare for me. A child out of wedlock? How could this even happen? We use protection all the time so this doesn’t happen!” Jason proclaimed as he paced a hole into his thin, dorm room carpet._

_Isabel sat calmly on his bed. “We did have that accident remember?”_

_“Condoms should not just break like that!” he snorted through his nose. “My career could be over because of something like this. This is a scandal, I mean.”_

_“Dearest, you are aware we live in the 20 th century, right?” she inquired with an arched eyebrow, but he ignored her and continued muttering about how having a baby would affect his life._

He worried more about being able to finish school and how having a baby would affect his football career more than anything else. In fact, he ranted about that for almost an hour after she told him the news. So, he probably felt like he was off the hook now, she figured; the thought did cross his mind more often than not.

She had no desire to speak with Jason if he was going to act like a baby, anyway. If he did not want anything to do with her, then that was his issue. She was not lamenting it, especially since Kane was around.

Kane was more helpful than Isabel ever would have thought. His cheerful attitude was a little annoying and he still said very inappropriate things, especially around her mother. But, he was still … well, the best she would give him was “coming in handy.” She did not want to give him too much credit.

“Hey, Bella, you ready to go?” Kane called, waiting outside, but sticking his head in a window of the house.

“Kane, stop doing that or I’ll slam your damn head in that thing,” Isabel barked. She did not like the habit he was working himself into with shouting in the house from the window. “You act like you were raised in a fucking cave.”

He put a finger to his chin in mock-thought. “Hmm … that house had a lot of statues for a cave,” he commented in a thoughtful tone with a smile.

Isabel raised her hand like she was going to punch him, but she did not. She opened the door and joined him outside. He grinned at her, pleased to just be standing next to her from what she could tell. He took her by the hand and led her to a car that he rented since he planned to be around town for a while and he had learned that Isabel did not know how to drive.

Kane opened Isabel’s door for her and helped her inside. She did not say anything since it was not the first time that he had done that. She was not even shocked by it anymore. He made sure that she was secure in her seat before closing the door and going to the driver’s side.

“So, how many apartments today?” he asked curiously while starting the car. He had gone for something simple when it came to vehicles, which surprised her. She thought that Kane would be a sports car, two-seater type, but instead he had gone for a small sedan.

“Just five,” she answered with a sweet smile, just to be silly for a moment. She also knew that the number would get a disgruntled reaction from him.

Kane’s eyes bulged and he gagged a little. _Five?!_ He had been out with her while she was apartment hunting; it was not a fun experience. She had such high standards and was not below getting into heated arguments with whoever was showing them the apartment. He did not have a say in the matter since she had made it clear that she was looking for a place of her own, no one else, except her and the baby. He was just acting as her chauffer to hear her tell things. He supposed that was for the best considering how he might tell things if anyone ever asked.

Kane liked to think that he filled more than the role as her driver. He was also the guy that was “definitely not her boyfriend” whenever a person asked while they were out, which was often; she always beat him to the punch when that question was thrown at them. He was the guy that brought her lunch, making sure that she ate, even when she swore that she was not hungry. He was the one that reminded her that she was eating for two. He was the one that took her for doctor’s appointments.

The auburn-haired male was also the guy that made sure to say something stupid when she seemed like she was getting a bit discouraged for whatever reason. He was the guy that got punched in the face for saying such things, or worse. Yeah, there were worse things that he could do now rather than say something inappropriate. Not that Isabel would ever acknowledge what made most of those “worse things” worse than his improper words.

“Kane, where are your eyes?” Isabel inquired calmly when they were sitting down having lunch at a small café. It was a place that she admittedly enjoyed, even though Kane was the one that found it a couple of weeks ago by chance.

“My eyes … right on you, Bella,” he answered with a huge grin as the objects in question returned to her lovely face.

“Funny, a moment ago they appeared to be glued to some young lady’s ass,” she commented dryly.

Kane laughed sheepishly. “Why would I look at some girl’s ass when I have such a beautiful, wonderful, delightful—” he did not get a chance to finish.

Isabel wasted no time in leaning across the table and punching him on the cheek. Kane’s head snapped to the side while Isabel turned her nose up and muttered the word “pig.” He smiled at her as a thought floated through his mind; she was jealous … or so he would like that to be the case. Isabel would deny the charge.

She often got jealous if his eyes wandered or if someone showed an interest in him. Generally, she pretended not to notice if the latter occurred, but she would silently fume for hours when it happened. The former always got him hit. He was starting to figure Isabel out, though. She could not say what she was feeling unless he was bothering her. Everything else had to be read by her body language and actions. He was becoming fluent in “Isabel speak,” but he did not make it a habit of showing what he learned.

“I think you’re getting a bit slower as our baby gets bigger,” Kane quipped while rubbing his cheek. He doubted that it would even leave a bruise.

“Shut up,” Isabel grumbled while turning her attention to her chicken salad, which she was ready to devour. She then glanced at Kane’s meal, which was a greasy double-cheese burger. “You should eat healthier,” she stated in a mumble.

Kane shrugged. “One day,” he replied as if it was no big deal.

Isabel only shook her head and then she mentally scolded herself for sounding like she cared about him. She reminded herself that she did not like Kane. He was an annoying little man that could only be stupid. _He is not worth liking_ , she told herself.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel was lounging on her mother’s sofa. Her feet were killing her. She gathered it had something to do with the bowling ball that she was carrying in her womb. She was convinced that she was having a baby whale from the feel of things. There was just no way that a little baby human could possibly hurt her back and feet so much.

 _Where’s Kane?_ Isabel wondered, close to a whine in her own head. He would rub her feet for her; he was the only person on the planet that would do such a thing. No one else even listened to her complain about her poor, swollen feet.

There was a knock at the door and a smile actually graced Isabel’s face. Hopefully that was Kane at the door. And then she remembered that Kane did not knock anymore. _So, who’s at the door?_ She supposed that she would have to get off her ass to see since her mother did not believe in answering the door when one of her daughters was home, even if Isabel was seven months pregnant.

“Hold the fuck on!” Isabel hollered in a rage at the person knocking on the door as she slowly rose off of the couch.

Isabel waddled to the door with a frown etched deeply on her face and opened it without bothering to ask who. She was too annoyed to care. When she saw who was standing there, she wished that she had bothered to check.

“Jason,” Isabel said with disdain in her voice.

“Iz,” Jason replied in a neutral tone, even though he was somewhat glaring down at her.

“What the fuck do you want?” she inquired, still frowning. She had not heard from him in months, so she did not see why he was showing up at her mother’s house at such a time. Especially since her mother could actually be home.

“To talk,” he stated bluntly.

“So talk,” she said. She was tempted to invite him in. She did not want to be on her feet if he was going to be there long, but him being inside the house was grounds for his death. _Oh, well, that decides things nicely_. “Come on in. I need to sit down,” she told him.

Jason wisely hesitated, but went in the house anyway. Isabel ordered him to leave his shoes at the door while making her way back to the couch. She sighed when she hit the cushions. She was feeling better already and then he sat down next to her. She frowned while moving as far away from him as possible. She also noted that he left his shoes on.

“So talk,” she repeated in the same bland tone.

He took a deep breath. “First off, you have to understand where I’m coming from. I’ve been so thoroughly and extremely pissed off with you. I mean, you betrayed me and you acted like it was nothing. You lied to me about the baby being mine—”

She cut him off. “I didn’t lie,” she growled. She hated to think about it, but she was almost certain that the baby was his.

“Look, let’s just both admit to being wrong here. I mean, you led me to believe I was the only guy for you, only for me to find out that you slept with some random Italian dude, who might actually be the father of the baby. Your behavior hasn’t been stellar at all, so it’s only right that I react somehow.”

“Jason, is there a point?” she snapped. “I don’t have time for this shit. My feet hurt and my back hurts. If you’re here to just cut into me, then get the fuck out.”

“I know my behavior the past few months hasn’t been the best, ignoring your calls and not seeing you and everything,” he admitted.

“I wouldn’t know how your behavior has been considering the fact that you’ve been nonexistent to me in the past few months,” she remarked. “To be honest, you haven’t really graced my thoughts. I’ve been busy.” She had been trying to find an apartment, getting fatter, and abusing Kane, a fun but surprisingly tiresome pastime.

He frowned briefly, but shook the expression off. “The point is I’ve had a long time to think about what happened. I’ve also grown to miss you,” he said, waiting for some reaction from her. There was nothing, though. “I mean, I still love you, you know,” he added, figuring that would get a reaction. She typically gushed when he said that he loved her.

Isabel still did not react to his words. She was surprised by her own complete lack of response. In the past, if Jason said such words to her, she would feel her heart flutter and she would be putty in his hands for at least a few minutes. It was rare for her to hear such words from anybody; well, it used to be rare until a certain pervert showed up in her life. It was also rare for someone to display love toward her as Jason tended to do when he paid attention to her and in the past, that used to touch her. That was what kept her with him, but now, she felt nothing.

She chalked her lack of feeling up to the fact that Jason had left her alone and pregnant for months on end. He did not call to check on her or take her calls. He never made inquiries about the baby or how she was doing. He just fell off the face of the Earth and she moved on. She did not think about what it meant for her to “move on” though.

“You still love me? That doesn’t mean you forgive me. Would you ‘still love’ me even if this baby isn’t yours?” she asked, an eyebrow craned in curiosity.

Jason was silent for a few long seconds. “We don’t know whose baby it is.”

“The point is would you still love me if the baby isn’t yours?” she inquired, even though she could guess the answer to that one.

Jason searched his mind for an answer that would not get him punched in the face, but did not come up with anything. He was certain that he loved Isabel now, but he was not sure about how he would feel about her having a child that was not his. He would have a consistent reminder of her betrayal of his trust. He was already having trouble thinking about how many men she might have slept with despite their relationship, especially since he knew how her little sister carried on. It was quite possible that her little sister had picked up the habit from her; Isabel was the younger girl’s role model, after all.

“The point is I love you. Everything else will work itself out,” he declared.

“What the fuck are you even talking about? A baby isn’t going to just ‘work itself out.’ I’m having a baby and I’m going to be with this child until one of us dies, end of story,” she informed him.

“It doesn’t have to be that way, though. We could always figure out what to do later on.”

“You’re wasting my time, Jason,” she pointed out with a tense frown. “You don’t speak to me for almost five months and then you show up here without even having the proper speech worked out? You think an ‘I love you’ fixes everything? Not to mention you think the baby will just ‘work itself out.’ What the hell do you think, after the baby’s born, she’ll just go off, get a job, and have a studio apartment somewhere and you’ll never had to think about her again? You don’t love me, Jason. You only thought you did,” she stated. The unspoken words there were that she did not love Jason either. She only thought she did.

“I do love you! But then you had to go and try to ruin us! I mean, God, how many guys have you slept with? How many guys are there that could possibly be this kid’s dad! You’re just trying to make a fool out of me! You’re the one that betrayed me! You don’t have any right to make light of my emotions and question me when you can’t keep your damn legs closed! You can’t keep trying to make a fool out of me!” Jason roared, climbing to his feet to literally look down on her. He had kept that pinned up from the last time they spoke.

“Why should I try when you do such a splendid job of it on your own?” she countered calmly.

“You act so high and mighty, but you’re the one that’s in the wrong here,” he stated firmly while continuing to glare down at her. “You’re calling my feeling into question when you’re the one that cheated! You’re the one that’s a damn whore!”

Isabel frowned and her fist clenched shut of its own accord. She wanted to spring up and deck him in the mouth like she did before, but that was many pounds and comfortable feet ago. Right now, it was a struggle for her to get off of the sofa and she was sure that he would see the hit coming. She chanced it anyway, thinking that she might be able to put some knuckles on his cheek. 

As suspected, Jason saw the hit coming. He frowned as she tried to launch herself at him. He sidestepped her while she sucked her teeth and fell back to the couch.

“You’re a violent one, too. I don’t go around hitting you, so you should have the decency—” Jason started to scold her, which was something that he did quite often, but she cut in.

“What the fuck do you know about decency?! You’re always getting into fucking arguments with me over bullshit! You come to my mother’s house to fucking reprimand me like I’m a fucking child! You’re not being an adult about this in any way!” Isabel hollered from her space on the sofa. Her pale skin was starting to turn a bright scarlet already from raising her voice.

“I’m not being an adult? How the hell do you want me to react anyway? You tell me you’re pregnant one minute and then the next you’re telling me it might not even be my baby! You’re trying to take advantage of me. You’re trying to get me to take care of a kid that’s not even mine! I mean, I know I’d be a good dad and all, but you’re just being plain dishonest! What, this is like my parents always said? You’re just with me for the money?” he inquired with a frown.

To him, he could understand why she would lie to him about the baby being his. He was certain that he would be a good father and he figured that she knew that. He would also eventually be able to take care of a baby since he figured that he was either going to be a professional football player or a successful businessman. He doubted that any other guy that Isabel ever touched would be as high-powered as he believed himself to be.

“Fuck your money! I don’t need shit from you!” Isabel informed him with venom in her voice. She had to take a deep breath after that. She was getting a bit winded and dizzy from the screaming; she was not accustomed to having yelling contests with people.

“Well, you’re obviously not with me because you love me,” he said in a heated tone with a serious and deep frown cutting his face.

“What the fuck is there to love about a prick like you!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “All you fucking do is try to lord over me! You get a great deal of joy in acting high and mighty toward me, reprimanding me like I’m your fucking kid or your goddamn slave, and you always act like you’re better than I am just because you’re in college. I can only wonder now what the fuck I ever saw in you. What the fuck made me so deluded that I thought I could love you? I’m obviously some kind of idiot to even entertain that thought!”

He flinched and then clinched his jaw. “So, you don’t love me? Good to know. I’ve had better women than you lined up for miles and I’m glad I’ll be able to date them now. They’re good, intelligent women, who do have a college education and dreams of a future that doesn’t involve fighting in some filthy gutter! They’re not argumentative bitches and they know they’re lucky to have me!”

“Then get the fuck out and go to them!”

“I second that sentiment,” Isabella commented in her usual tone as she came from the back of the house to the entrance of the living room. Her eyes were narrowed onto Jason, who gulped as soon as he noticed her.

“Mommy, I can handle this,” Isabel insisted, eyes stayed glued to Jason. She was glaring chilling, poisonous daggers into his soul that did make him want to tremble. He knew better than to show weakness around the women, though.

“You don’t need to. You don’t need the stress. If Jason were the gentleman he always claimed to be, he’d recognize this. And if Jason were intelligent, he wouldn’t be in my house, yelling at my pregnant daughter,” Isabella said calmly, taking a step toward the young man.

“She invited me in,” Jason argued, motioning toward Isabel.

“I don’t give a fuck if God himself invited you in. Now, she invited you in and you pay her back by upsetting her, thus bothering my grandchild, too. You seem to be batting 0 for 3 in that case because you’re bugging the shit out of me too,” Isabella informed him, another step toward the football player.

“I’ve got a right to talk to my girl—” he tried to say.

“Doesn’t sound like she’s your girlfriend anymore and you haven’t been acting like she is anyway. Now, let me show you the door and take into account that this is the last time you’ll see this side of it or I’ll throw you through it,” Isabella said quite seriously.

“I’ve still got—”

“Does he still have business with you?” Isabella asked her daughter. She did not bother to turn to look at Isabel. They both continued to give Jason glares that probably would have murdered him if it were possible.

“No,” Isabel answered bluntly.

Isabella did not need to hear more. She wanted Jason out of her house now. She glared at him more intensely and that was enough to get him moving. But, it was not enough to get him to shut his mouth.

“So, this is it? This is how you’re going to leave it?” Jason demanded, speaking to his girlfriend … or was she his former girlfriend?

“This is how you’re leaving it. You’re the one acting like this is the end of the world or that the baby is just going to go away. You left it like this,” Isabel replied.

“You slept with another guy! How do you expect me to react!” he inquired with an incredulous expression on his face. “How else am I supposed to react when finding out that I’m dating a wanton slut that slept with strange men in other countries?!”

Isabel only shook her head. He was acting the way that she expected. She was not sure how she wanted him to react, though, considering the fact that expecting and wanting were two different things. In the beginning, she would have sworn that she wanted him to take it well and they would be able to stay in their strange, but cozy relationship. But now, there was nothing there that she wanted to hold onto with Jason. She chalked it up to the argument that they were engaged in, but something deep inside of her knew that was not the case. _There’s something so much more that freed_ _you from him,_ her mind whispered to her.

“I hope you’re proud of the whores you raised,” Jason boldly sneered at Isabella.

Isabel would have winced for Jason if she were not so pissed at him. So, instead, she watched with devilish glee as her mother showed Jason out…through the door … without opening it. She had to lean forward for a better look of Jason lying on his face, on a huge bit of the door, on the front porch.

“You call my daughters anything, and I mean _anything_ , that’s not the names on their birth certificates and I swear to you that your fucking mother will weep long and hard when she sees your goddamn body,” Isabella promised Jason in an uncaring tone.

“Your whole family is crazy,” Jason muttered with a groan.

“Yeah, we’re crazy; very, very crazy. So, do us all a fucking favor and stay away from my family. Talk to Izzie when you’ve gotten your act together and she wants to actually hear from you and not a moment before. Just to let you know, we do pray you’re not the baby’s father,” Isabella stated in a cold tone before turning to go back into the house, never mind the fact that most of the front door was on the porch outside.

Isabel sat back on the sofa. Her mother did not look at her while she passed by and Isabel did not look at her mother either. There was no need for that. Everything that needed to be done was done.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane was humming some new song that he did not even know the words to as he came up the walkway of Isabella’s house. He craned an eyebrow when he saw a body lying on the front porch, on a door if he was not mistaken. He rushed to the fallen fellow.

“You okay?” Kane asked while helping Jason up with no problem despite the fact that Jason was much taller than he was.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jason grumbled as he pulled away from the auburn-haired teenager.

“You must’ve pissed off the head of the house,” Kane remarked with a laugh. He knew that Isabel could not muster the power to knock someone through a door and he was also aware that Isabel’s little sister was not home; she was rarely home if the sun was up.

“Miscreants. Every woman in that house is a harpy,” Jason stated with venom.

“I wouldn’t say that. I find them to be quite the pleasant band of ladies,” Kane replied with a smile. Sure, they all seemed to delight in trying to put knots on his head, but they had not proven to be as bad as Jason’s tone and expression implied.

“You’re probably just as crazy as they are then,” Jason accused with a curl of his upper lip.

Kane smiled. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be as crazy as them. They take care of each other in that house and I can’t have you saying bad things about them. If you keep this up, I can’t promise to stay polite,” he quipped, still smiling. There was a bizarre glint in his purple eyes, though. Something dangerous was just underneath the cheery surface.

Jason scoffed. “Who do you think you are?” he asked with a growl. He was not about to be threatened by some midget after being embarrassed by the mother and daughter team inside. 

“I’m just a guy trying to help you out,” Kane answered with a shrug.

“And who are you going to see?” the larger male demanded. _Is this tiny man the bastard that touched_ my  _Isabel? The bastard that impregnated her with another bastard? No, why would she be with such a small, obviously poor boy when she had me?_ It did not make sense. He assumed Kane was poor because the teen was dressed in a simply long, plain white t-shirt and baggy jeans with large holes in them. They were comfortable pants, Kane would argue if anyone asked about the holes.

Kane craned an eyebrow. “I don’t see how who I’m here to see is any of your damn business.”

Jason frowned. _Is it possible that I’m looking at my rival?_ He scoffed because he could not believe it. Isabel had taste, had some level of sophistication, despite her crass language, lack of education, and violence. She could not possibly be with a guy that did not even know how to do his hair, Jason thought; Kane’s hair was supposed to be brushed in a ponytail, but a lot of the hair had escaped and he just let it fall however it wanted to.

Jason looked over to the street, checking to see if Kane was driving a car. He saw a plain, little black sedan. He would probably describe it as a “girl’s car” because of its size. It was parked right behind his own car, an expensive dark blue sports car. The car only further led him to think that it was impossible that Kane would be there for Isabel. Kane just did not seem right for Isabel in Jason’s opinion.

“It doesn’t matter,” Jason said as he started toward his car with a word of thanks toward Kane for helping him up.

“Wow, what a prick,” Kane muttered as he turned his attention to inside the house and stepped inside. “Hello, hello!” he called as he slipped off his shoes to walk further into the house.

“Kane!” Isabel said with much more delight than she had meant. But, Kane offered her three things that she greatly desired at the moment. The first thing being a foot rub, the second being an escape from the house as she had been inside all day, and the last was lunch.

“Oh, you know I love it when you scream my name,” Kane remarked with a cheeky grin.

“Idiot,” Isabel grumbled, a slight frown in place now. She turned her head up as if she were offended by his very existence.

Kane chuckled. “So, what happened to the door?” he asked curiously, pointing to what now amounted to a hole in the wall.

“My mother had to put out some unwanted rubbish,” she answered.

“I can fix that if you want,” he offered.

“Stop trying to get on my good side. I don’t give a damn if you fix my mother’s door or not,” she informed him coldly.

Kane only smiled a bit, used to Isabel’s fast changing moods, especially in regards to him. He walked by her, just looking to let Isabella know that he was in her house. He found out early on that entering her home and not acknowledging her meant a lot of pain. Now, he knew that the family swore to the high heavens he was a plain and simple masochist, but he would rather not get hit if he could avoid it.

“Hey, senior Bella,” Kane greeted Isabella with his usual grin as he poked his head in the kitchen, which seemed to be Isabella favorite place in the house.

Isabella shooed Kane away without saying anything in return. She waved him off and he left, still smiling. He returned to his “favorite Bella” and sat down next to her. She wordless put her feet in his lap and wiggled her toes, silent orders that he needed to massage her feet. He quickly complied.

“Kane, I’m hungry,” she informed him.

“Me too. Can I have one—” he tried to get in a joke, but she interjected before he could finish.

“I can kick you in the mouth, you know,” she pointed out. Her feet were in his lap, after all.

Kane flashed her smile. He decided to leave her alone and just massage her feet. She closed her eyes and a content smile spread across her face without her permission. He smiled to himself while watching her. As a reward for his effort, when he reached up to rub her belly, she did not yell at him.

“Let’s get some food for you and your mom, little guy,” Kane commented in a low voice.

Isabel smiled wider at that statement. She wanted to say that the smile was brought on by the promise of food, not the fact that Kane addressed the baby as if it was his own without knowing if he was indeed the father. He never seemed to consider that the child might not be his, she noted.

Isabel tried not to let her mind go to where it wanted to go while thinking of Kane and how he might not be the father, but her mind went there. He probably was not the father. And she doubted that someone as immature as Kane would stick around when the baby was born and he found out that he was not the father. She was not sure what was going to happen with Jason either, but she refused to let him invade her thoughts.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She could look at the boy and already knew who his father was. She was surprised to find that her heart dropped because of that. She told herself that she should be happy just to have her baby, which she was. She was so glad that she had not had that abortion months ago in her moment of insanity, as she had come to think of it.

“Mommy’s happy that she had you,” Isabel cooed to the baby, who was sleeping in her arms. She leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

The baby had been up not too long ago when his grandmother and aunt were fussing over him and awed by him. The ladies noted that the baby seemed to like the attention. The visitors also noticed something else about the tiny boy, but they did not say anything. They did not even want to put their thoughts in the air; maybe it was not be true. Or so was the hope that they left with.

“Hey, Bella,” Kane said with a smile as he poked his head into the hospital room.

“Who invited you?” Isabel inquired, sounding bitterer than she meant to. She did not want to see his smiling face because she would start to think about how it would be gone soon. He would never smile at her again.

“The senior Bella, believe it or not,” he answered truthfully as he stepped into the room. He had a bag in hand, which he held up. “I come bearing gifts,” he added.

“So?” she huffed.

Kane continued to smile and she shifted from her space in the bed. _Why does he smile so much at me_ , she wondered. _Why is his smile so bright? Why did he actually stay by my side ever since he found out that I was pregnant, especially considering the way that I treat him? What the hell was wrong with him?!_

“Here, you take this and let me hold him,” Kane requested, exchanging the bag for the baby.

“Wait,” Isabel tried to protest, but the baby was already in his hands.

“What? I kinda know how to hold a baby,” he remarked, thinking that she was afraid for the child.

Isabel was kind of thrown off by that response. “Make sure you support his head,” she found herself saying.

“Gotcha,” he replied with a smile and moved his arm to make sure that the baby’s head was resting on his arm.

Isabel sighed and turned her attention to see what Kane brought her. She opened the bag to see a Styrofoam container, letting her know that he came with lunch for her; it was the afternoon. Her stomach growled as the smell of the food hit her nose and she licked her lips. She wasted no time in digging in while noting that Kane was very preoccupied with cooing at the baby.

-8-8-8-8-

Jason sighed as he pulled his car into the parking lot. He could not believe he actually got a phone call about Isabel having the baby. Maybe it was his baby and if that was the case, he would have to try to mend things with Isabel. He was still upset with her, though. He doubted that he would ever forgive her for her many transgressions.

“She tried to ruin my goddamn life after cheating on me. Tried to get me to raise some other guy’s little bastard. But, if that’s my kid, we have to come to some kind of decision. I could probably finish school and I won’t let them mess up my chances for football. She decided to have the kid, after all. She can look after it while I finish everything and then I can take care of them. Seems fair enough after she betrayed and lied to me,” he said to the air.

Sighing, he shook his head. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around the idea that Isabel cheated on him. He thought that despite her argumentative nature that she swore she did not have, she loved him underneath it all and was more than aware of just how fortunate she was to have him. But, obviously that was not the case considering what she had done, what she had probably done numerous times. He based his thoughts on how her younger sister behaved and figured it was probably the norm for their household.

Isabel’s little sister was, well to be blunt about as he typically was, a whore. She tended to have at least three boyfriends at all times with each boyfriend thinking that he was the only one for her. Jason now believed that she learned that behavior from Isabel; after all, she learned a bunch of other bad habits from Isabel, like swearing and being violent.

He glanced around the parking lot and his blue eyes happened to fall upon a familiar car. He arched an eyebrow and went over to the small black automobile. He frowned as he realized where he had seen that car before. He rushed inside the hospital after that and found out what room Isabel was in.

Jason quickly made his way to the room, finding the door wide open. He did not walk in, but peered in. Isabel was on her bed, eating food that obviously was too good to be from the hospital. And then there was that disheveled young man from a couple of months ago and he appeared to be holding the baby.

Jason frowned as he took in the sight of Kane holding the baby. Kane looked peaceful and proud, smiling down at the little bundle in his arms. Jason turned to leave.

“I guess it was his baby. Why the hell would they call me up here then? Just to rub it in? to play me even more? Fine, whatever, I don’t need this drama. He can have her and their little bastard,” Jason decided as he returned to his car. He stopped outside by a pay phone and leaned against it before taking the phone off of the hook.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel growled in anger as she was taken away from her heavenly sandwich and soda by the ringing of the phone in her room. She suspected that one of her family members was calling to congratulate her, as that has been happening all day. She had been able to count on her mother or sister to answer it, but those two had gone to get their own lunch.

 “Hello,” she said in the most neutral tone that she had ever used on Jason over the phone.

“Hey, it’s me,” Jason said, forcing out a laugh that sounded almost like a sob.

She blinked in surprise and then glanced over at Kane, who was still busy with the baby. “Oh, yes. Hello,” she muttered in a disinterested tone.

Jason actually waited a few seconds before speaking because he did not think that would be the end of the greeting. Usually the greeting was “hello, dear” or “hello, dearest” with some kind of warmth in her voice, even if they had been fighting. Now, there was nothing. She might as well have been speaking to a stranger, he noted. That drove his next blunt statement.

“It’s over,” he informed her gruffly.

“What’s over?” she asked him curiously.

He snorted angrily. “Us. We’re done. I don’t need to deal with this.”

“And the baby?” she inquired, making sure to keep her businesslike tone.

“What about the baby? Don’t you already have a father for him?” he replied bitterly.

She frowned; his attitude influenced her next words. “Fine, then. I wish you the best in life.” She then hung up on him. He did not bother to call back.

Isabel was surprised once again to find that she felt nothing over Jason ending them. She swore that she loved him not too long ago, but she felt nothing over losing him. The only man on her mind was the boy before her and she did not mean her son.

Isabel’s mind and heart were focused only on Kane. She was about to lose him and that troubled her, but she hated to admit that to herself. After all, she did not like Kane. He was just some wild, insane man that she had a fun night with. _So, why do I feel like my insides might fall out when he inevitably walks out of that door and out of my life?I feel like I would be so much poorer without him._

“Kane …” Isabel said in a low, nearly hesitant voice.

“Hmm?” he asked while turning to her. His eyes stayed focused on the baby, though. He could hardly believe the tiny life that he held in his arms.

“Don’t you have to go home sometime soon?” she inquired, having to swallow to keep her voice from cracking.

“Um … no,” he answered in a confused tone. “I mean, it’s not like they close the hotel doors at a certain hour and even if they did, I doubt it would be this early.”

A small smile worked its way on her face. “Idiot. I mean, don’t you have to go home, back to Italy?”

“Oh.” He chuckled lightly because of his misunderstanding of the question. “No. Why would I have to? Nobody’s home and nobody in my family called to say the place burned down or nothing, so I’m guessing everything’s fine. So, I’m here for as long as you need me,” he assured her.

“Idiot,” she stated much harsher than she meant to, than she ever had. “You do know that’s not your baby, right?” she pointed out without any tact. It was almost like she did not care anything about his feelings.

Kane looked down at the baby. His eyes were blue, like a middle of the ocean. His hair was pitch black. He had thin lips and the makings of a square chin. Kane laughed a bit; a hallow sound. There did not appear to be a drop of him in the child that he held.

“Let’s wait for the blood test to tell us that,” he replied, a half smile tugging at his lips.

“Don’t be an idiot. The baby’s not yours. So, why don’t you just get lost?” she huffed while her mind demanded to know why she was speaking like that. _You’re going to send him away if you keep acting like fucking bitch_ , her mind pointed out. Her pride, ego, and sensibility assured her that she wanted to send him away.

“If you want me gone, Bella, I’ll do that. I wouldn’t want to trouble things between you and his father,” he told her in a low voice. He sounded as sorrowful as he felt. It was like his heart cracked down the center and was now crumbling, falling bit by bit into his stomach and being dissolved by the acids there.

“You wouldn’t be troubling things,” she accidentally confessed. It seemed that her mind kicked in and took control of her mouth again. How long that would happen remained to be seen.

“No?” Kane asked with a shocked tone. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“His father left me.” She looked down at her lap where her unfinished lunch sat patiently, waiting for her to return.

“He left you? With the baby?” Kane asked in disbelief. _How could anybody do something like that_ , he wondered. He did not understand it and he was actually happy that he could not understand it.

“Yes …”

Kane was over to Isabel in a flash. She did not even see him move, which was strange considering he usually moved slower than a slug. She was wondered how he covered the distance of her room without making a sound as he did. He was staring intently down at her; royal-colored eyes on emerald ones, letting her know that he was totally serious about the next words that left his mouth.

“I’ll stay if you want me to. I’ll help if you want me to. I’ll be there for you and the baby if you want me to,” Kane promised.

Isabel was silenced by his words. She looked away from him, not wanting him to see how touched she was. In her head, she was actually cursing him out for making her feel the way that she suddenly was. Her heart was fluttering and her head was swimming; she felt confused and delighted at the same time. She had never felt like he made her feel, even when she thought that she was in love and Jason was lavishing attention on her. There was something so different between him and Jason that she could not even begin to figure it out; she did not even want to try.

Kane seemed to sense her distress. “I’ll fuck you crazy right now, too, if you want me to,” he added with a lecherous grin.

Isabel’s eyebrow twitched, her mind remembering how to work now. “Perverted idiot,” she huffed, turning back to glare angrily at him. “And the only reason I’m not hitting you right now is because you’re holding my son.”

Kane smiled. “What a life saver this kid is. I’m never putting him down now,” he declared.

“You’ll be handing him back as soon as I finish eating,” she informed him.

“We’ll see. So, how about I name him since I’m never letting him go?” he proposed and she shot him a glare that would have stopped a lesser man’s heart instantly.

“Like hell I’ll ever let you name him or any other kid I have.”

“Oh, so you plan on others? Can I help in that?” he asked with a hopeful smile.

A vein bulged from her forehead because of her anger with him. She wanted to holler at him for being a lecher and an idiot, but they were in a hospital. Like hell she would ever have kids with him! _I don’t even like him_ , she promised herself for perhaps the millionth time since she met him.

Kane smiled at her and then turned his attention back to the baby. _Maybe it’s too much to hope for kids of my own_ , he thought. _But, I have this one for now and he is a prince_. At least he could pretend to have a family for a little while … until Isabel had her fill of him anyway. He wondered how much time he had left before she was sick of him. He hoped that he would at least be able to get to know the baby a little, experience something that he was sure he would never have, at least not with the beautiful creature in the bed. He could pretend now and dream from the memories later.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kane and Isabel try to raise Hadrian together while trying to make sense of each other.


	2. Slow and steady

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own these characters … well, actually, I think I own every character we meet in this chapter except for Hadrian, who belongs to Disney under a different name. Did that even make sense?

1: Slow and steady

Kane Go had always been slow. Not really slow mentally, but in terms of his lifestyle, he had always been laidback. Even physically, he moved about the same speed as molasses in the arctic. It was because of that that some people did mistake him for a simpleton. He knew that if a lot people saw him now, including friends and family members, they would feel their suspicions about his brain were confirmed.

The auburn-haired teen was sitting on a sofa that was not his, in an apartment that was not his, with a baby in his arms that everyone on the planet told him was not his son. The baby was resting on his large bicep, drinking a bottle that had been left for him by his mother. His mother was out and Kane was babysitting, as usual. He was babysitting for a woman that treated him rather horrendously by most standards, which were obvious signs of insanity in the opinions of most people.

“Pizza and breast milk. What a night, eh, Hadrian?” Kane remarked, speaking to the pudgy three-month-old. He suspected the baby was getting the better end of the meal, but he knew that was just his inner pervert acting up. “I bet it tastes good, though, doesn’t it, Hadrian?” _Yeah, that is definitely my inner pervert … or maybe I am just that screwed up_.

Hadrian looked up at Kane, as if confirming that the breast milk was much better than the pizza, which was resting on the coffee table in front of them. Kane turned his mouth up at the look in those deep blue eyes. _Fine, so the baby’s meal is better than mine_.

“I can’t even say at least I’ve touched ‘em. You get to touch ‘em everyday, so you beat me in that area too. I only touched ‘em once. That settles it, I’m so jealous of you, Hadrian. Do you see this, you made your father jealous.” Kane pretended to pout.

Hadrian was not affected by his “father’s” pout. Yes, Kane referred to himself as Hadrian’s father. He even thought of himself as Hadrian’s father. After all, he had been there since almost the beginning and he was still there now. Besides, he was the one that named the boy Hadrian. Unfortunately, everyone else told him that he was not the father; he did not pay them any mind, though.

-*-(Flashback: Hospital after the birth of Hadrian)-*-

_“Stop calling him that,” Isabel ordered Kane from her hospital bed as she enjoyed the lunch that Kane had so generously brought her. She did not sound quite as happy as the fish sandwich was actually making her. She did not look happy either, but that was rare no matter what._

_“What? He looks like a Hadrian. Besides, he likes the name Hadrian. Don’t you, Hadrian?” Kane asked with a broad smile as he gently rocked the newborn in his thick arms. The newborn gurgled, which Kane took as approval. “He likes it!”_

_“That’s not his name,” Isabel growled like an angry lioness. She glared at Kane as if she was trying to will him to burst into flames._

_“Tell your mommy that Daddy says your name is Hadrian, therefore your name is Hadrian,” Kane declared as if his word was law. To him, at the moment, his word was law because Isabel could not get out of bed to hit him and would not do it anyway since he was holding the baby. He was victorious!_

_“His name is not Hadrian,” Isabel said through clenched teeth. A vein was starting to show in her pale neck. She wanted to just get out of the bed and pummel him!_

_“Hadrian. Hadrian Go. Oh, I like that. You like it too, don’t you, Hadrian?” Kane asked. The newborn did not react to the question._

_“Is that what we’re calling him? Hadrian?” Isabella inquired curiously as she entered the room. They expected her to be followed by a blonde teenage girl, Isabel’s younger sister, but she did not come. Isabel could guess what happened to her; she probably saw a cute doctor or nurse and now she was trying to get a date. That was all her sister did outside of martial arts training._

_“No,” Isabel assured her mother in an almost harsh tone. They were not calling her son Hadrian._

_“Yeah, it is. Don’t you like it? Doesn’t he look like a Hadrian?” Kane brought the newborn over to Isabella, who immediately took him from the happy teenager. Kane let out a noise of protest that Isabella ignored._

_“I do like it,” Isabella said as she looked down at the baby. She noticed out of the corner of her eye, her daughter’s jaw practically hit the floor when she agreed. A ghost of a smile worked its way to her lips. “He does look like a Hadrian.”_

_“Oh, I told you, Bella!” Kane bragged, his usual silly grin plastered on his face. Oh, he had won two battles! He had to shoot her a thumbs’ up because of that. If looks could kill, he would have died a million times before hitting the floor thanks to her glare._

_Isabel scowled. “I’m not naming him Hadrian.”_

_“You might not be, but I am. I’m his father. I get to say so,” Kane proclaimed, and the next thing he knew, he had to duck an empty plastic cup. “Hey, that coulda hurt,” he complained with a smile, as if he did not care that it could have hurt._

_“That was the point,” Isabel growled. She was not enjoying being teased by Kane at all, especially with her mother in the room. How dare that clown of a boy try to make a fool out of her! “You’re not even his father, so you don’t get a say in the matter. He’s _my_ son,” she proclaimed almost haughtily._

_Kane’s smile remained in tact, but he was forcing it hard now. That was the second time she told him the baby was not his and it practically stopped his heart both times. He did not want to hear that. He was claiming the boy and staking his claim by forcing the name he wanted onto the child no matter what. He was determined to show her that he would stay, he would be there for her and the baby, and he would be a good father for as long as she let him._

_Isabel had to swallow hard after she once again told Kane that the baby was not his. Such words caused horrible bubbling and burning sensations in her throat and stomach. Breathing became just a little harder than usual for a few more seconds than she liked, but she pushed all of that away and just let herself be angry at the pest that was Kane._

_Isabella did not say anything during the interaction between her daughter and Kane. She noticed it, as she noticed everything according to her daughters; they were rather right about that, especially in regards to them. She stayed focused on the baby, though, acting as if he was the only one that mattered in the room. The child yawned, causing his grandmother to almost smile._

_“I like Hadrian. I think I’ll call you that from now on,” Isabella stated. It was like she was saying to hell with whatever Isabel might want to name the child. It was like she was siding with Kane and somehow saying that Hadrian was his child._

_“I think I’ll call goal on this one,” Kane remarked with a smile and he lightly clapped his hands together._

_“Just because my mother approves doesn’t mean I do. He’s my son and I’ll name him,” Isabel declared soundly._

_“Well, how about you let me score some other way?” Kane suggested and he had to duck a clock that was in the room. He continued to smile, though; his vibrant violet eyes seemed to sparkle._

-*-(End Flashback)-*-

“Well, I won on the name, now if only I could win on that other scoring part,” Kane remarked with a half-smile.

Hadrian did not react to his father’s perverted comment or the equally perverse look on his face. Kane was not expecting the child to react; Hadrian was very much into his bottle right now. The purple-eyed teen sighed and turned his attention to the television. He did not plan to eat another slice of pizza until he could put the baby down. It was cold already anyway.

Despite all that he had grown up with in life, Kane was not a picky or spoiled fellow. He would eat cold pizza, being thankful to just have food. He would do plenty of other things, too, like what he was doing now, and be perfectly content, as he was now. That was why people thought that he might be a little slow in the noodle. He did not mind their thoughts; he did what he wanted, at his own pace, and that made him happy.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel sighed in frustration as she threw her hands up. “What the fuck is wrong with these idiots?” she complained, looking up at the sky as if the heavens would answer her question.

“Uh … Iz, they’re standing right there,” an average-sized woman pointed out, motioning to the two gentlemen that Isabel was referring to.

“I’m well aware of where they are. I just don’t waste my time talking to fucking morons,” Isabel explained to the shorter woman.

The woman chuckled a bit and shook her head, which caused her straight, strawberry blonde, shoulder-length hair to move a little bit. She pushed her thin-framed glasses further up her slender, long nose. She composed herself and then turned her attention to the two men that Isabel had just insulted; two men that knew Isabel well enough to not contradict her when she called them “fucking morons.”

“Guys, take five. Let me talk to Isabel for a moment,” she said with a gentle smile. They nodded in agreement and walked off the set; it was designed to look like a subway station. She turned her attention to the pale woman.

“Yeah, take five years! You fucking jokes!” Isabel shouted, snorting in the direction of the departing men. She actually wished that they would turn around and say something, just to give her an excuse to put her foot in their asses. Her wish was not granted.

“Iz, seriously, you can’t keep abusing them like that,” the woman said with a sigh, shaking her head again.

“Why not, Mav? They’re assholes and they need to know it,” she stated as if it was a stone-cold fact.

The woman, Mav, sighed again; it was a tired, almost frustrated sound. “Mostly because we need to get through this scene sometime this week. You keep yelling at them and they’re not going to get it. You need to stop acting like this all the time.”

“I can’t help it if they’re fucking idiots,” Isabel retorted, folding her arms across her chest and standing with her hip cocked out to the side.

“Iz, I recommended you for this job because I know you kick ass in making fight scenes. You always have a great vision that translates well to film, but you’re making it hard to work with you by yelling at the actors all the time. They’re not as good as you, so face it. They’re never going to be as good as you. Just work with what you got,” Mav practically pled. Her small mouth was turned down into a pout.

Isabel sighed. “Work with what I got,” she scoffed. _I’ve got idiots. How the hell am I supposed to work with idiots?_ Her mother never had to work with such fools. She dared consider that was why Mav recommended her for the job and not her mother.

“Maybe you’re working too hard. I hear you just had a baby, but every time I see you’re working or setting up work,” Mav said.

“Where’d you hear I just had a baby?” Isabel inquired with a craned eyebrow. _Who the hell is the dead man spreading my goddamn business around?_

“Iz, you were fat as a cow not too long ago and I did see you a few months ago to know that’s a fact. It didn’t take a genius to figure out you were pregnant, even though you didn’t say anything,” Mav answered with a shrug. She knew that Isabel liked to keep her personal life extremely personal.

“It wasn’t anyone’s business,” Isabel stated. She did not sound upset or defensive, just like she was saying any other fact.

“I know. But, I got you a gift anyway,” Mav commented. “I’ll bring it tomorrow when we should be wrapping this scene up. Hopefully, you’ll be cooler tomorrow.”

“Only if they’ll be better.”

Mav smiled, expecting that answer. She had known Isabel for a couple of years now, so she knew how the teen was. She also knew the teen’s mother rather well, so to her that meant that she knew Isabel for just as long as she knew Isabella because they were virtually the same person in her opinion. Well, almost the same person because Isabella sure enough would have quit the job that Isabel currently had if she had to work with the actors that Isabel was working with.

“Your work schedule hasn’t really changed, but you just had a baby. That’s strange,” Mav commented, keeping a neutral tone.

“I’ve got a … reliable babysitter,” Isabel replied, hesitating in the center there. She would not exactly consider Kane “reliable,” but he had not killed Hadrian in the three months the child had been born, so he was doing something right.

“That’ll work late nights? They must cost you a fortune,” Mav said.

Isabel glanced away for a moment. “Not exactly.”

“No? Oh, the father must be a wonderful guy then to watch the baby while you’re working.”

“Not exactly.”

Okay, Kane considered himself Hadrian’s father, Isabel knew that. But, she still would not say that he was a “wonderful guy.” In fact, she would use a lot of words to describe Kane and she was certain that “wonderful” would not come close to that list. In fact, “wonderful” would probably pack up and leave the English language if it were to be associated with that list.

Kane was nothing more than a perverted pest and Isabel mentally insisted that she did not even care about him every time that he entered her mind. She did not care about him because he did not care about her, she told herself. _He’s only hanging around and trying to use the baby to get me in bed again. Nothing more_ ; she was damn sure of that.

“I’m sure he’s fine. You should keep him if he’s willing to watch a baby while you go to work,” Mav told the younger woman.

Isabel only rolled her eyes. A voice in the back of her head commented that she was trying to keep Kane, but he was going to leave eventually. She shook that voice away quickly. She then mentally insisted that she was not trying to keep Kane and she did not give a good damn if he left! _Who the hell in her right mind wanted a goofy pervert like him around?_

“Let’s get back to this scene, so we can be done with it by tomorrow like you said,” Isabel said in a remarkably calm tone.

Mav smiled a bit and guessed that she hit a topic that Isabel was not comfortable with, which was surprising. Although Isabel was a private person, there were not many things that could come up in a conversation that made her uncomfortable. Sure, she might not discuss some issues, but they never seemed to bother her like their current topic did. She very rarely switched topics in the middle of a conversation to get out of talking about something like she just did.

“Fine. Let me go get the guys,” Mav said with a sigh as she walked off.

Isabel frowned and tried not to think of keeping Kane. _He’s going to leave_ , she knew that; well, she thought that anyway. She was so certain that she knew him. Kane was not the type to stick around for anything, especially a baby that was not even his, even if he was acting like Hadrian was his son. She thought Kane was playing some sort of sick game and she believed that he would tire of the game eventually. After that, she would probably never see him again.

She did not get to think too much more on the matter because the actors came back. She steeled herself, taking a deep, soothing breath before going to deal with them. She hoped that they could pull off the moves that she had in mind now. _Why the hell did everyone insist on lying to me about their actors’ fighting abilities?!_ Probably because they knew she would laugh in their faces and tell them where they could shove the job if they did not lie to her.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel came in after midnight. She kicked off her shoes and sighed in relief as soon as she crossed the threshold. A small, tired smile graced her lips as she closed the door behind her.

She made her way deeper into the apartment. She was not surprised to find the television on, apparently watching Kane. It was a habit of his. He was knocked out on the sofa, mouth open, arm and leg thrown over the top of the couch. His other arm and leg were dangling off the side of the sofa.

 _He should know better than to sleep on leather like that_ , Isabel mentally scolded Kane. She had verbally reprimanded him about sleeping on the couch many times already, but she noticed that everything went in one ear and out the other with him.

She then noticed the pizza box on the coffee table. She frowned and marched over to the box to close it properly. She then picked it up and walked it into the kitchen, throwing it in the trash, even though there was still two slices left in there. Her frown remained as she walked back into the living room and glared at the peaceful-looking boy out on her sofa.

“Idiot. I cook for the moron and he still orders pizza,” Isabel grumbled. “What a waste.”

She reached down and slapped Kane hard in the side. He barely moved, but a smile did appear on his face. Her scowl deepened as she took in his expression. She wondered with contempt, _what the hell is his smiling about?_

“How can you smile after being left alone with Hadrian for over six hours and eating that crap?” Isabel wondered aloud as she hit him again, much harder than before.

Kane groaned deep in his throat. She expected that. She learned that Kane was a very heavy sleeper depending on the circumstances. He would be up in a flash if the baby started crying, but other than that he would probably sleep through an alien invasion. She hit him again, even harder than the last time, thinking that it might get him to wake up.

“Bella,” Kane muttered followed by a noise that sounded almost like a crocodile bellow. She was not sure if he was saying her name because of a dream or in protest to her hitting him.

“Kane, get your lazy ass up and off my fucking couch,” Isabel ordered in a harsh tone while pointing to the front door.

Kane only made the crocodile noise again while shifting from his back to his side, taking his arm and leg off of the top of the sofa. His goofy smile stayed in place through out the movement. A vein on the side of Isabel’s head started to show by bulging out.

“Goddamn it, Kane. Get your lazy ass off my fucking couch and go the fuck home,” Isabel commanded, punching hard in the chest.

Kane coughed in pain and that woke him up. He yawned while slowly opening his eyes and putting a hand to his injured chest. The purple orbs quickly fell onto Isabel, noticing the frown, the sharp look in those jade eyes, and the vein sticking out. And yet, his mouth went from a smile to an outright grin as he rubbed the sore space on his chest.

“Hey, Bella,” the auburn-haired teen greeted her in a tired tone.

“Kane, get the fuck out of my house,” she ordered in the same harsh tone that she had just been using on his unconscious form. She pointed to the door again, just in case he did not know where it was.

Kane groaned. He should have known that was why she woke him up. He always hoped, instead, for her to say something else.

“Can’t I just stay for the night?” he requested while stretching out his arms. He was having such a nice sleep, and besides, he would like to be around when Hadrian woke up again.

“No!” she barked and stomped her foot. “Next thing I know you’ll be trying to get in bed with me, you little perv!”

“You think so little of me, Bella,” he commented with a tired smile. Now, he might _try_ such a thing, but they both knew that he would not succeed. He would only do such a thing to be cute, anyway; not that Isabel would find it cute, he reminded himself.

“Yeah, because you make it so easy. Now, take your ass home.”

“You never let me stay the night. I make a good cuddle-toy. You know that,” he commented with a cheeky grin.

Isabel frowned, knowing that he was referring to their only time together. She recalled clearly how she rested on him after their coupling. His body was so firm and warm, just thinking about it made a delightful feeling race through her. She quelled that by reminding herself that Kane was just playing a little game and he was going to be leaving as soon as the game was over. There was no reason to think about anything that he made her feel aside from annoyance.

“Kane, get the fuck out of my house,” Isabel commanded, sounding even more pissed off than she had a second ago.

Kane scratched the top of his head and yawned again. He wondered why she always seemed so upset with him, even when he was doing something good or right. He could not figure it out. It was like the better he was, the angrier she got, and for some odd reason, he could not get away. He stayed because she never told him to go any place other than home and by “home” she was referring to his hotel room.

Isabel watched as Kane climbed to his feet; it took him damn near thirty seconds to do so. It was not like he had to go a long way, either; he was barely five feet tall, after all. She made a tight fist that began to shake with each passing second. She slapped him in the back of the head by the time he was completely up; the sound echoed through out the apartment.

“Ow! What?” Kane asked as his head lurched forward.

“You’re moving too slow, as usual. What the fuck? You broke your leg or something?” she huffed.

Kane did not respond, just shuffled his feet toward the baby’s room. She folded her arms across her chest and watched him go. Part of her just wanted him out of her sight, but another part of her felt like it might float off into space after seeing that he cared about Hadrian enough to go see him before leaving.

“Why am I always so conflicted about this idiot? I should just hate him. He’s an idiot, after all,” Isabel commented, muttering to herself. “Besides, this is just a game to him. He’s going to get bored soon and he’s going to go home, back to Italy.”

She moved to the door of the baby’s room, which was down a small hallway. He was standing over the crib and singing a song in Italian to Hadrian. It was his nightly ritual. She smiled a bit at the scene, which was her nightly ritual.

“Okay, so I’ll be back tomorrow,” Kane said when he was done. He was speaking to both mother and child, even though his eyes were locked on Hadrian.

“I’m going to get some work in tomorrow,” Isabel informed Kane as he started to leave the room.

“No problem. Me and Hadrian can go catch a couple of strip shows,” he remarked with a tired, cheeky grin. His purple eyes were barely halfway open.

“You better not take my baby anywhere out of this damn apartment,” she told him quite seriously.

He just flashed her another grin. She frowned in return, which only made him grin wider. She hit him with the hope that it would get that stupid look off of his face. She did not enjoy the way her heart skipped a beat at the sight of his happy smile. She constantly told herself that she needed to stop reacting favorably to him because he was going to leave eventually anyway.

“Do I get a kiss goodbye?” Kane asked with hope actually shining through the cloud of tiredness in his eyes.

“Go to hell, Kane,” Isabel replied roughly before she slammed the front door in his face.

Kane’s shoulders dropped and he sighed, sounding almost as if he were in despair. He ran his fingers through his messy auburn hair as he walked down the stairs to go to his car like a man walking to the gallows. Once he was behind the wheel, he just sat there. He looked at the building that he just left, wishing that he could see Isabel’s apartment, but her place faced the back of the complex.

“How does she do these things to me? How does she make me want her so much? I’m like a kicked puppy. Just keep coming for more and more abuse,” Kane said to the air as he put his head down, shaking it back and forth. “Because she’s willing to share her son with me. Because it’s like having a family. Because … I’m drawn to her. I really am her puppy.”

After that realization, Kane decided to label himself pathetic. But, the great thing about being as laidback as he was that he could take that label and not care. He was drawn to who he was drawn to and he was drawn to his wonderful Bella. She fascinated him.

“She is the flame and I am the moth. But, I’ll be that until she tells me she doesn’t want me around anymore. I mean, for all her hitting and barking, she’s never said I shouldn’t come around anymore. And she’s stopped with this ‘he’s not your son’ bullshit. I wanna think she likes me being around, but just doesn’t want me to know, but this is getting exhausting,” he said to himself with a deep sigh. “No, no, no. Stop thinking like that. Take what you can get because you know she’s going to force you to leave sooner or later. She doesn’t really like you. You know that. She’s just overwhelmed with being a new mom. That’s all.”

He sighed again and rubbed his eyes. He then slapped himself in the forehead a few times, either to wake himself up or to dispel the thoughts from his head; he was not sure which one. He started the rental and drove off when he was done abusing himself.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel sighed and her shoulders dropped as she dragged her feet into the bathroom. She realized too late that she should have taken her shower before kicking Kane out. Now, she had to pray that the baby stayed asleep long enough for her to get a nice, relaxing ten minutes under some streaming hot water. Hadrian usually did not take kindly to being left alone for more than ten minutes, even in his sleep.

Her body was tenser now than when she was out working with those idiot actors. She expected as much. No matter how she felt outside the apartment, the moment that Kane left, she felt so much worse.

“Why won’t he just go home?” Isabel begged the air in an almost tearful tone. Her heart clenched at that thought and she had to hold her chest. “Stop acting up and stop acting stupid. He’s going to go home sometime soon and you don’t even like him!” she snarled as she glanced at herself in her bathroom mirror. She hoped that would get her heart to beat normally. By “home” she did not mean whenever in the hell he managed to get a room at whatever hotel he stayed in, but _really_ home, out of the country, out of her life. That way, things could go back to normal.

Isabel tried to shake the thoughts away as she started her shower water and quickly stripped. She got in before the water heated up, but the stream of cold liquid barely registered to her mind as she leaned against the cool tiles of the shower. All she could think about was how tired she was and how Kane seemed to drain her.

“How can he do this to me? He’s like a mosquito, taking my energy instead of blood,” she muttered to herself.

She wrapped an arm around her near-white stomach while the other one stayed propped against the wall to brace herself. She was not sure why, but she seriously felt like she might fall over. It was like kicking Kane out zapped everything that she had in her and she needed to lie down.

“He’s annoying without even being around!” Isabel growled as the hot water finally gushed forth and ran rapidly over her tight muscles. “I hate him, I hate him, I hate him,” she chanted over and over for almost a full minute. Once that minute was up, she devoted her mental time to listing the reasons why she hated Kane. The number one reason was because he was just playing a game with her and Hadrian. She was so certain that he was going to go home soon.

Her mental berating of Kane was ended as she heard the baby crying. She had a baby monitor in every room in the apartment for just such reasons. She quickly turned off the water and grabbed a towel as she stepped out of the tub.

“I’m coming, baby. I’m coming,” Isabel called to Hadrian as she rushed out of the bathroom.

She hurried into Hadrian’s room and turned on the light. He was lying in his crib, screaming his head off. He kicked his covered little feet back and forth; Kane had dressed him in a footie pajama pants. His deep blue eyes locked onto his mother as soon as she was standing in front of his and his arms shot up like there was a switch she flicked.

“You are such a momma’s boy. Are you like this with your daddy, too?” Isabel inquired as she leaned down to pick him up. “I mean, with Kane,” she corrected herself. 

Hadrian stopped crying as soon as he was secure in Isabel’s arms and he wasted no time in letting her know why he was wailing. He turned in her arms, facing her breast. He then hit her in that spot with his little fist.

“Hey, hey, hey. Is Kane teaching you these sexual harassment techniques, young man? You don’t follow the example of that dirty man,” Isabel scolded her son as she took his tiny fist in her hand.

Isabel proceeded to feed Hadrian. She discovered that he learned quickly that only she made milk between his two caregivers. He would not take a bottle from her, no matter what, which was the reason why she came into the room with just the towel wrapped around her. No point in getting dressed when she was just going to have to take off her shirt again.

“You’re just as demanding as Kane, too. You better not grow up to be as annoying as him,” Isabel ordered as Hadrian went about his business in getting his midnight snack.

Hadrian glanced up at his mother, but she could not read his gaze. The indigo just seemed to wonder something to her. She was not sure what could possible be on his mind aside for food, which was just about all he thought about in her opinion. If only she knew.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Isabel woke up late in the morning and went to her front door. She unlocked the pair of locks and then went back to bed. Minutes later, the door opened and Kane came in, eating a bagel and humming the song that he was listening to on his headset. He put down a bag that was in his hands and marched right to the back, to Isabel’s room. Isabel was out, cutting heavy z’s; Kane smiled a bit.

“Funny, she claims she won’t let me stay the night because she thinks I’ll do something to her in her sleep, yet she’s always knocked out when I show up,” Kane commented in his head.

He turned and exited the room. Isabel opened an eye, watching him go. When he disappeared into Hadrian’s room, she went back to sleep.

“Hey, how’s my little prince?” Kane asked in a whisper as he stepped near the crib.

Hadrian was sleeping, which was expected. Mother and son slept late, but then again, Kane used to be the same before he took it upon himself to take care of the pair. He walked out of the room and finished off his bagel. He went into the kitchen and threw away the wax paper that held his breakfast. He then went into the fridge, grabbing the carton of orange juice and a bottle. He started heating up the bottle and then he poured himself a cup of juice, of which he got to drink half.

“Got through more than yesterday,” he remarked about his juice as he heard Hadrian crying.

He shuffled off to the baby’s room and picked him up. Hadrian grinned briefly when he laid eyes on Kane and then went back to bawling. Kane bounced him in his thick arms as he made his way out of the room.

“Shh … you keep yelling like that and you’re gonna wake up your mommy. You want that? You wanna wake Mommy? It’s supposed to be male bonding time,” Kane reminded the child.

Hadrian was not satisfied or quiet until the bottle was in his mouth. Kane then flopped down on the sofa, put his feet up on the coffee table, and turned on the television. Everything was good for a few minutes.

“Kane, what the fuck?” Isabel asked as she came out, wearing a robe that showed off a lot of leg. The cloth was black satin, contrasting with her pale skin, begging for attention in her guest’s opinion.

“Bella!” A grin instantly appeared on his face as he moved his feet from the coffee table.

“Oh, so you’re not a totally idiotic asshole? Stop putting your feet on my fucking coffee table,” she barked with a frown.

Kane just continued to grin as he made sure to keep a grip on Hadrian and he leaned forward for the bag that he brought in. He chucked it over his head and she caught it without looking.

“Glazed donut?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Bow tie actually,” he answered.

Isabel nodded, even though Kane’s back was to her. She went to the kitchen; Kane turned his head to watch her. He had to bite his bottom lip when he saw those milky legs on display. His eyes wandered up and down those lovely, impossibly long limbs. A slap from Hadrian turned his attention back to the baby, who was watching him intently.

“What? It’s not my fault your mom’s hot. Besides, you own the chest. Can I at least get the legs?” Kane whispered with a small smile.

Hadrian turned his attention back to his bottle. Kane took a deep breath and turned to see what the hell he was watching on television. Isabel milled around the kitchen, eating her donut with a hint of a smile on her face. She made a bottle with some water and walked into the living room, placing the bottle on the coffee table.

“Give him the water in a little while,” Isabel said.

“He still won’t drink the water with you?” Kane asked curiously, trying to keep his eyes locked on her face; it was a damn hard task for him to accomplish. _Why the hell does she always have to wear that little ass robe in the morning?! I swear she wants me to look at her, so she can then kill me when she notices me watching!_

“No,” she answered simply.

“You’re still giving your mommy problems with this bottle?” Kane asked the baby. “Personally, I see your point. But then again, she’s not my mom.”

When Kane did not feel a blow collide with the back of his skull, he knew that the sharp ears of Isabel had not heard him. The light din that she was making in the kitchen let him know that she was making breakfast. He smiled.

“I like it when your mom cooks while I’m here,” Kane whispered to the baby.

Kane liked it when Isabel cooked because she always included food for him, like he was part of the family. It was things like that that made him think that she accepted him despite the way she treated him. Sure, she hit him and cursed him out, but that was really the end of her hostile behavior. Somehow he knew that she could be much worse than that, but she did not show that fierce, vicious lioness side to him.

“Kane, we’re going grocery shopping today,” Isabel told him.

“Okay,” he agreed with a grin. Another little thing that made him feel like a family, she made him go shopping with her, be it grocery or clothes shopping. If only he knew her reasoning behind it.

_Might as well get all I can out of him while he’s playing this little game …_

_I guess I’ll just keep being a puppy while she let’s me …_

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kane seems weary. There are talks of him going back to Italy. Isabel doesn’t seem to be in favor of that idea, though.


	3. Intervention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian; Disney does. Kane, Isabel, and her family, I kinda thought of those guys.

2: Intervention

Kane managed to ring the doorbell for Isabella’s house, even though he was holding Hadrian and had a baby bag hanging over his shoulders; it would not have been such a feat if only Hadrian was not attempting to run a marathon in Kane’s arms. The wooden deck of the porch creaked slightly, protesting to the young man’s movement. He ignored the sound and it was partially drowned out by other outside noises, which there were plenty of since it was a nice day.

Birds were out singing and children were out playing. The sun seemed to smile down on everyone, bathing them in warmth. Much like he ignored the noises of the wood beneath him, Kane ignored everything else around him as he tried to calm down his son. After a few long seconds, the baby settled on his own.

“Thank you,” Kane whispered to the boy, who did not bother to look at him.

Hadrian busied himself by sucking his thumb and taking in the scenery of his grandmother’s front porch. The front porch was clean enough to eat off of, more than likely; Hadrian had tried on the rare occasions when an adult was not watching him like a hawk. The fellows only had to wait few seconds before Isabella answered the door.

“Hey, senior Bella,” Kane greeted her with quite the happy grin while Hadrian just stared at her, still sucking his thumb.

“Kane, I’ve told you not to call me that ridiculous name,” Isabella commented in her usual dry tone. She had her hands at her side, but cracked her knuckles without much movement, as if warning him.

“Your daughter said the same thing and despite the internal bleeding and concussion I sustained from her, I continue to do so,” he boasted, beaming with pride to go along with his insane grin, which looked like a shadow of what it usually did.

“You are _such_ a fucking idiot,” Isabella said with no hint of humor in her voice.

Kane took the insult like nothing, still smiling all the way through it; Isabel called him an idiot like it was his name, after all. He stepped inside of the house, Isabella taking Hadrian out of his arms as he did so. The baby cheered as his grandmother held him.

“I guess this visit was overdue,” Kane remarked because of Hadrian’s reaction. He pretended not to notice Isabella’s reaction, holding the baby close to her with one arm and smiling ever so slightly. Good thing he did not know that she also took a moment to breathe in Hadrian’s subtle, powdery scent, which send a warm feeling through her body; Kane would have said something about that.

“He’s probably just happy for some sane company. Where is his mother?” Isabella asked rather blandly as she shut the door and walked into the living room where Kane was setting down the baby bag; he made sure to take his shoes off before he stepped into the room.

Kane shrugged, like he did not know. “She had to be at the set for a new scene or something like that.”

“She’s been working a lot lately,” Isabella commented, bouncing Hadrian slightly and he laughed as if he was on the most exciting ride ever invented. The joyful noise was more than enough motivation to keep her doing it.

“Yeah, I guess. She might be going out cage fighting, too. I dunno. She hasn’t confirmed that one yet,” the Italian boy stated while throwing himself onto the cushy sofa. He rolled his stiff shoulders once he was rid of that baby bag. It was heavy; _does Isabel pack rocks in damn thing before she gives it to me?_ He leaned back and rubbed his face for a few seconds, which only seemed to highlight the lines on his face and the bags underneath his tired eyes.

Isabella glanced over at Kane from by the door. She noticed that he had lost just a little of the sparkle that he had when he first showed up a year ago. His very presence seemed dull and heavy. He had a lot of energy when he first showed up, even though he was laid-back, but right now it looked almost like he could use a nap … or ten.

“Did she go out fighting last night, too?” Isabella asked, sounding almost like she did not care. She did not look his way while she spoke, focusing on her grandson and keeping him laughing.

“No, she had this scene stuff again,” Kane answered, throwing his head back and closing his purple eyes for a moment. The dark circles under his eyes seemed to get darker with every second.

Isabella nodded. Her associate Mav had called her a couple of days ago, explaining how Isabel was working hard to choreograph several fight scenes for the television show that Mav produced. She gathered that the call was supposed to make her feel proud because her daughter was branching out to make a name for herself rather than being known as “Isabella’s daughter” around certain circles. The call had left quite a different taste in her mouth, but that was something to be discussed with her daughter and not with Kane.

“So, Kane, what’re you doing about money? I never hear you say anything about working. Are you just mooching off of Izzie?” Isabella inquired with a curious half-smile on her face. She continued bouncing Hadrian, even though it was an activity that she would tire of long before he would. The baby was still rather entertained, giggling and clapping with each move.

Kane chuckled and a hollow sound, especially compared to his usual cheerful tone. “I’m just a perverted little leech, aren’t I?” he countered bleakly, eyes still closed.

Isabella cut him a glance and saw the exhausted smile that he was forcing out. “Taking care of Hadrian all the time has to be a job in and of itself,” she offered as if she was bored.

“Well, it’s not just me all the time. Izzie does most of the watching,” he replied.

“Does she now? How does she manage that when she’s working on scenes and street fighting at all hours?”

“Well, she does that mostly at night.”

“A four-month-old baby isn’t on a schedule. Hadrian is active all day along, meaning if she’s gone at night, she’s missing most of the watching part, doesn’t it?”

Kane clearly forced out a grin, but did not open his eyes. “I don’t mind.”

“How long won’t you mind, though?” she asked. After all, Hadrian was not Kane’s son. Anyone with eyes, hell, even a person with _one_ eye, could tell that. _So, how long is he willing to care for a child that is not his?_ He had stuck in there for a year now, much longer than she and her daughters thought he would, but it looked like he had hit the wall. She could understand why, though. _Not like Izzie is pulling her weight in child rearing at all_.

“Forever,” he answered immediately with conviction in his tired voice.

“Even though Hadrian’s not yours?” she inquired, not caring how crass it might seem to others. She said what was on her mind, simple as that.

“Hadrian is mine,” he replied without missing a beat. His tone was laced with certainty.

Isabella had to give it to Kane; he was one stubborn bastard. Months of hearing how Hadrian was not his son, a year of physical abuse from her and her daughters, and practically being used by Isabel and he was still there. Hell, the child’s father had fled the scene and yet Kane remained. _Maybe he just likes the attention_ , she considered; that or he really was as insane as they thought.

“Your father is insane, Hadrian, you know that?” Isabella remarked while turning to go deeper into the house.

Hadrian smiled as if he agreed; the funny thing was that when he smiled, he kind of looked like Kane. Isabella chuckled about it, thinking of an old saying that she heard about children and non-biological parents: if you feed ‘em long enough, they start to look like you. _Maybe there’s something to that_.

Isabella left the living room with the baby in her arms. When she came about out a few minutes later, she and Hadrian found Kane totally knocked out. He was still in a sitting position with his head thrown back. His mouth was wide open and he had a thin line of drool running down the corner of his mouth.

“You’re wearing this kid out, Hadrian, but he is here and he does seem to care. That’s more than he’s required and more than your sperm donor did,” Isabella commented and left the living room again.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabella walked into the living room, still carrying her grandson in her arms. She could hear keys in the front door and even though she knew who was coming in, she still had to check. The door eased open, letting in the sound of humming, birds chirping, and cars going by. All but the humming was then shut out as the door closed.

Isabella’s “mismatched” daughter entered in the house. Victoria was the daughter that did not look like an almost exact clone of her. Now, Victoria did have her eyes, but the teen’s head was crowned with canary yellow blonde hair that she had cut short to her shoulders; she toyed with her hair length often letting it grow to her sister’s length and then snipping it off. She was not nearly as pale as her mother or sister, having a healthy peach, almost olive complexion. She was also not as tall as her mother or sister, although many argued that Isabella and Isabel were pretty much amazons, especially with their long legs.

“Oh! Hadrian!” Victoria cooed as soon as she noticed her mother holding her nephew. She was ready to run over to them and snatch him up, but she needed to get out of her shoes first. The blonde practically jumped out of her shoes. “Gimme, gimme, gimme,” she begged with her arms open.

“No,” Isabella answered bluntly while turning away from her daughter and pressing Hadrian closer to her.

“Aw, man! Mommy!” Victoria pouted, trying to look extra-pathetic in the hope that it would get her mother to let her hold the baby. After a couple of seconds, she took the cold hint that her expression was not getting her anywhere, so she straightened herself out and noticed their other guest. “Wow, you killed Kane or something?” she asked curiously when she saw his unconscious form practically propped up on the sofa.

“Why would I do that? We need someone who can take a punch to practice on,” Isabella quipped dryly.

“Too true.” Victoria leaned in closer to inspect Kane. “You know, he’s cute in his sleep.”

“Better hope your sister doesn’t hear you say that,” Isabella replied with a half-smirk tugging at her usually taut mouth.

“I’ll tell her that to her face next time I see her. It’s not like she’s doing anything with him. She doesn’t even fuck the poor guy. I should take him on the ride of his life,” Victoria said with a cheeky grin.

“It better be the ride of your life, too. Izzie will kill your little ass once she find out,” Isabella replied plainly.

Victoria shrugged; she had to concede that point. “Izzie’s such a fucking harpy. She’s got a guy around her for a whole year that’s willing to do anything for her and she doesn’t even pay the guy back with some occasional bedroom acrobatics. Hell, it didn’t take her a year to sleep with Jason and he was a jackass.”

“And Kane’s not a jackass?”

“He’s a different kinda jackass and he’s cute, so he’s excused,” the blonde answered, smiling as if that did make all the difference in the world. And if probably did, to Victoria anyway.

“I see. We excuse Kane because he’s cute,” Isabella scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“He’s damn adorable. You think I’m joking when I say I would ride him like there’s no tomorrow? I would,” Victoria declared as she flopped down on the couch right next to the snoozing young man. He did not so much as move from the impact and she leaned against his broad shoulder.

“I know. I don’t care to hear you say it every time we see Kane, though.”

“But, I would. If he wasn’t such a dope and hooked on Izzie, I would take him. Speaking of Izzie, I’m guessing she’s not here, then.”

“Did you go to any fights with her recently?”

“A bunch. A few nights ago we went to these crazy fights that Iz just found out about. The pay was outrageous. We were there like all night, kicking all kinds of ass. She actually sent a few guys to the hospital. I don’t know where she has the time to practice with work and a kid, but then again, she has extra time on her hands since she’s not fucking Kane.”

“Oh, that was the day you slept until like three in the afternoon and missed school … again.” Isabella then realized something. “What the fuck are you doing home right now? Shouldn’t you be in school?”

Victoria shrugged. “I didn’t wanna stay. It was boring. Home is much more fun since Kane’s here and, apparently, sleeps like the dead. Maybe I’ll molest him in his sleep.” She had the nerve to smile impishly.

“You know it’s only funny if Izzie’s here to get mad at you,” Isabella pointed out.

Victoria could have argued that since she knew that she was getting on her mother’s nerves, which was almost as fun as riling her sister up over with her blatant attraction to Kane. “I’ll cut it out if you just give me my nephew,” she proposed with a devilish smile.

“If you want him, learn to be at home when Kane decides to show up. Now, back to this school business. Don’t you have to go a certain amount of days if you actually want to graduate?” the mother inquired.

“If Iz can graduate, anybody can do it. Did she even go to school her senior year?”

Isabella could not answer that question. She did not keep track of her daughters’ attendances. She just told them that they better graduate or they were going to regret it. They took her word on that and really did not want to know what the punishment would be for not graduating. Truth be told, Isabella had no idea how Isabel graduated, though. _Isabel probably doesn’t know how she graduated_.

Victoria heard rumors about the school, she and Isabella used to attend the same high school, that Isabel threatened her teachers to pass her. Victoria would not put such a thing past her sister, but then again, she also heard some teachers talking about how bright her sister was, so she might have had test scores so high, it would have been hard to justify failing her. Considering what her sister had been going through the past year, Victoria was not too sure that her sister was bright at all, though.

“So, can I hold Hadrian now?” Victoria whined with her hands clasped together like a beggar.

“I’m not giving him to you, so shut up about it,” Isabella replied bluntly.

“Fuck you, Mommy,” Victoria grumbled, huffing and folding her arms across her chest.

Isabella scoffed and held onto Hadrian while tossing her daughter the finger. Eventually, she did give the baby up to Victoria since the blonde would play with him. She put Hadrian on the living room floor and Victoria wasted no time getting down there and blowing raspberries in his chubby tummy. Hadrian laughter loudly and richly, putting a grin on his aunt’s face.

Victoria did every silly kiddy thing that she could think of with Hadrian for a couple of hours. She then made him a bottle and changed him. With those things done, Hadrian decided to take a nap, signaling just what he was going to do by letting out the cutest yawn and rubbing his eye with the back of his fist. He passed out right on the floor.

“Hey, Mommy, Hadrian’s sleeping,” Victoria announced, almost shouting to the back of the house.

“If Kane’s still sleeping, just put him on Kane,” Isabella replied.

Victoria picked the child up and put him on his sleeping father. Kane’s arm moved and wrapped around the baby to secure Hadrian to his chest. Kane then slid down on the sofa to lie on his back, making better use of gravity. Victoria laughed a bit to herself.

“Something’s not quite right with this guy,” the blonde remarked.

Victoria could not figure out why Kane would stick around with Isabel to raise a child that was not his. Sure, Isabel liked him … or so Victoria and her mother thought, anyway. But, Isabel did not even show that much to him. She hit him, belittled him, completely emasculated him in front of crowds of people sometimes, and did not even have the decency to sleep with him through all of that. Kane simply _had_ to be brain-damaged to still be around after a year of all of that, in her opinion.

“This is cute …” Victoria muttered to herself as she took in the image of Kane with Hadrian sleeping on his chest. She had a brilliant idea and then ran off to find a camera.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane woke up from his sleep, noticing the small weight on his chest. He instinctively knew the weight was Hadrian, so he rubbed the child’s back. Hadrian made a small noise, but remained asleep.

“Oh, you’re up,” Victoria commented from a chair in the corner. She was watching the living room television.

“When’d you get here?” Kane inquired with a yawn, looking up as much as he could without moving.

“Hours ago. You’ve been out since then. Hadrian’s kicking your ass, isn’t he?” Victoria replied. Kane had been out long enough for Hadrian to wake up, play with his aunt some more, and fall out for another nap.

“No, no, no,” Kane denied, shaking his head slowly.

“It’s understandable, you being a single parent and all,” the blonde joked.

Kane rolled his eyes and sat up, making sure to keep a firm grip on his son. He rolled his neck, which made a loud cracking sound. Victoria glanced at him.

“Maybe I could give you a massage,” the blonde suggested with a wink.

“Sorry, Vic, but only one Han will ever be touching my rippling muscles,” he remarked with a grin.

Victoria fell into an exaggerated pout. “Aw! But, I would do things to you that Isabel hasn’t even heard of!”

Kane laughed. “I’ll have to take a pass. Me and the little prince should get going, anyway.”

“His bag is under the sofa.”

Kane nodded and leaned down to get the baby bag. He went over to Victoria and kissed her on the cheek, which she accepted. She kissed Hadrian, who was secure in his father’s arms.

“We’ll be back in a few days,” Kane informed the blonde and then he walked to the back, having to go all the way to the back porch. Isabella was back there, doing laundry; if she left it to Victoria, the blonde would wait for it to pile up until neither of them had any clothes to wear at all.

“You’re up and leaving,” Isabella said.

“Yup. Figured you wanna say bye to your grandbaby,” Kane replied.

Isabella nodded and turned to her grandson. She leaned down and gave him a gentle kiss on top of his head. She then rubbed his raven-haired back a little.

“I’ll bring him back in a few days,” Kane informed her.

She nodded and with that Kane left. He sighed as he put the baby bag back in the car and then situated Hadrian in his car seat. He looked down at the snoozing baby for a few seconds.

“At least they love you and they’re happy to see you,” Kane said in a whisper. “At least you’ve got a family, little prince.”

Kane tried not to think about the feeling that was building inside of him. _I’m just tired, that’s all. It’s nothing serious, just tired._ After all, he had been looking after Hadrian everyday and it was a lot of work to watch a child, even when Isabel was around. So, that was all it was; _it’s just tiredness_.

“Yeah, I’m just exhausted,” Kane insisted as he sat behind the wheel. He said it aloud as if that made it all the more true. That was the best explanation for why he was feeling … unlike himself. He was just tired.

Kane drove to Isabel’s apartment, having a set of keys for the day, like always. He put Hadrian down in his crib before anything else. He then dumped the baby bag on the floor, went to the living room to toss the keys on the coffee table, prepared a bottle for when Hadrian woke up, and then sat down for a few minutes before a familiar cry got him off of his ass. That was his day, that was almost his every day, but the usual was not over yet.

The auburn-haired Italian got to take a breath close to midnight. He fell asleep on the sofa like he typically did. He was taken from the sleep in the normal manner too: Isabel screaming at him, hitting him, and cursing him out. He said his goodbyes to the sleeping baby and left to the sound of Isabel insulting him.

_Kick me, kick me, kick me, I’ll still come back. I’ll keep coming back. I’ve got to be a fucking idiot…_

-8-8-8-8-

“Hadrian!” Victoria cheered as she opened the front door and snatched the baby right out of her big sister’s arms.

“Hey!” Isabel complained, keys in hand, positioned to unlock the lock the door because she did not know that her sister was right be there.

“I got him!” Victoria boasted with a big grin as she retreated deeper into the house with her nephew.

“Be careful with him!” Isabel barked at her seemingly careless sister. Really, she knew that Hadrian was as safe with Victoria as he was with Isabella or even herself, but that did not mean that she had to be civil toward her little sister.

Victoria ignored her sister’s typical bellowing while Isabel shut the door. She slipped her shoes off. She went to the sofa to put the baby bag down before going to hunt for her mother. The older woman was on the phone and did not appear to be enjoying the call. Of course, if she were really upset, more foul words would have been leaving her mouth.

“Hey, Mommy,” Isabel greeted her mother.

Isabella waved her off, dismissing her for the moment. Isabel took that in stride and walked back into the living room. She sat down on the couch to watch her sister playing with Hadrian; the blonde was sitting on the floor and holding the baby. Victoria glanced up at Isabel and smirked, looking quite demonic. The big sister knew something wicked was about to come her way.

“No Kane today? You let him off the leash?” Victoria inquired curiously, still smirking, but she did turn her gaze back to the baby.

“He had to do something today about his passport or something about staying in this country,” Isabel answered in a trivial tone, looking away and waving her hand as if it was no big deal. “I wasn’t really paying attention,” she made sure to mention to remind her sister that she did not care about Kane.

“Oh. How do you feel about that? Your heart beating nervously that your little puppy might get sent back to Italy?” the blonde asked almost blandly while glancing back, just to see her big sister’s expression.

Isabel’s face tightened instantly. “He’s not going back to Italy,” she growled like a mad dog.

Victoria chuckled; target sighted. _Doesn’t care my ass! She’s sensitive about Kane going back to Italy_. Time to play with that information until Isabel lost what little mind she had, Victoria decided.

“Why shouldn’t he? I bet it’s way easier for him to get laid over there,” Victoria remarked, combining two known sour spots for her sister. She made sure to keep playing with Hadrian while speaking.

“Look, he’s not leaving! So, just drop it!” Isabel ordered, getting a little bright in the face as a vein peeked out from her neck.

“Why should he stick around? What’re you doing to make him stay? Bitching, bitching, bitching, oh, and let’s not forget every guy’s favorite, bitching!” Victoria commented with a grin.

“Shut the fuck up. You don’t know anything about it. He’s not going back to Italy.”

“Sure, he’s not,” Victoria said while rolling her eyes and still smiling. “After all, shit is just great for him here. After all, he’s got a woman that’s making him take care of another man’s son, she thinks he’s about as smart as fucking rock, she beats on him like he’s fucking gym equipment, and she doesn’t fuck him.”

“Fuck you, Vic. You don’t know a damn thing about a damn thing,” Isabel snorted, her face now completely tense and her top lip tugged up in a sneer. Her pale skin was flushed scarlet. 

“Fuck me? You need to be doing that to Kane to keep his ass from going back to Italy. Oh, but it’s too late. He’s probably buying a plane ticket as we speak.”

Isabel was now making a fist and tempted to just punch her little sister in the neck, but Victoria was holding the baby. She pulled her fist open with her other hand and took a deep breath. All that inhaling did was make her not want to deck Victoria yet; it did not fix her features in any way.

“If he’s not buying a plane ticket, he should be buying a prostitute or something. Maybe a sexy call girl,” Victoria said.

“Just shut up,” Isabel replied, rubbing her forehead now. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath.

The blonde recognized the move; she was helping her sister’s frustrations, but she really did not care. Sure, it was obvious that the subject really bothered Isabel, but that never stopped her before. So, she continued on.

“If he’s smart, which he could be underneath it all, he’s probably in a strip joint right now where he can at least see a woman naked,” Victoria said.

“You know what, give me my son,” Isabel huffed as she tore herself from the sofa and snatched her child from Victoria.

“No! Gimme back my nephew!” the blonde shamelessly whined, holding out her arms for the baby.

“No. You want to be a fucking asshole, continue to do so without my little prince,” Isabel said and then she clipped her sister in the head with her fist.

Victoria hissed in pain as she put her hand on her injured skull. “Hey! Mommy!” she called.

“What the fuck are you two doing out here, making all this goddamn noise? I was on the fucking phone,” Isabella stated as she walked to the entrance of the living room.

“Do something about your fucking daughter,” Isabel replied, nodding down to her annoying sister.

“Who the fuck are you talking to like that? You got a problem with your sister, handle it yourself,” Isabella said plainly while folding her arms across her chest.

“Fine, when I kill her and bury her in the damn backyard, don’t ask why,” the eldest daughter replied.

“You know, she’s just mad because Kane is out getting fucked by someone that’s not a complete asshole toward him,” Victoria commented with some bite to her tone as she climbed to her feet. The smirk on her face was even worse than her tone.

“I doubt it. That would prove he has a normally functioning brain,” Isabella remarked in a mumble. If she had not learned anything else over the year that Kane had been in their lives, he was not normal.

“He’s not out doing anything. He’s just making sure his passport is fine and that he’s still in the country legally,” Isabel stated through gritted teeth.

“What do you care anyway? You don’t even like him. What does it matter if he goes back to Italy? You lose your man-slave?” the blonde inquired.

Isabel huffed and turned her nose up. “I don’t care if he goes back to Italy. He’s just a fucking idiot, anyway.”

Isabella and Victoria were so tempted to laugh at loud from that. Sure, he was an idiot, but they knew that Isabel saw him as being _her_ idiot. Victoria decided it was time to go back to teasing Isabel while trying to figure out why her sister was so fixated on Kane leaving.

“If that’s the case, you won’t mind me giving him a-go,” Victoria said with a positively devilish smile. She dared to wiggle her eyebrows while speaking. It was amazing that horns did not sprout from her forehead.

“You better not,” Isabel snarled at her sister. Her jade eyes blazed with a fire that would have made the devil run in fear. Her sister was not even moved.

The blonde continued to smile. “Why not? You’re not laying him and he’s cute.”

“Leave Kane alone,” Isabel stated through gritted teeth that seemed to be fused together from the tightness of her jaw.

“You’re such a fucking jackass. If you like him so much, why don’t you treat him better? He’s there for you and taking care of your son,” Victoria pointed out.

“He’s not taking care of Hadrian. This is all just a fucking game to him. He’s playing house right now because he doesn’t have anything better to do. So, leave him alone and stop trying to defend the little fucking pervert,” Isabel commented.

“Well, he is a pervert. I have to give you that. But, to just write him off as playing house is a bit harsh. I mean, the guy’s been with you a year and doing every possible thing he can for you and Hadrian. That’s a long time to be playing this shitty game of house considering who the mommy is,” Victoria countered with a slight scoff.

“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Isabel demanded to know.

Isabella decided to chime in now since Victoria opened up a door to a topic she was going to address, anyway. “Well, for someone that takes offense to her parenthood being called into question, let’s examine the evidence. You spent your nights doing fight choreography for Mav’s show until eleven to twelve at night. If you’re not doing that, you’re going to find underground fights and staying out to who-knows-when for those. You spent your afternoons trying to find movies to do fight choreography for and you sleep through the goddamn morning. From what it looks like, Kane is taking care of Hadrian on his own with you showing up whenever you damn well please.”

“First of all, Mommy, it’s none of your fucking business,” Isabel said matter-of-factly, pointing a rigid finger at her mother.

“It is when it involves my grandson,” Isabella retorted calmly. 

“Look, I’m there for Hadrian. I just haven’t changed my schedule because Kane’s there to watch him and he does an all right job of it,” Isabel stated.

Isabella stared at her eldest with bored sapphire eyes. “Really? So, what else does Kane do? He does the laundry? The food shopping? The—”

“He doesn’t do any of that shit, okay! I do the laundry, mine, his, and the baby’s! Sure, I take him shopping, but I go and do the shopping. I do the cooking and the cleaning, too. Kane’s just a set of arms and legs that watch and feed Hadrian when I’m not around,” Isabel argued soundly, pointing to the ground with one hand while making sure to keep a firm grip on her son.

“So, you want a fucking medal for doing the shit you’re supposed to do?” her mother inquired with some bite in her tone now.

“Fuck, no. I didn’t ask for one. You’re the one making it sound like I don’t do shit. Don’t tell me how to live my fucking life since I’m doing a fine job of it. I’ve got everything under control,” Isabel argued with a confident gleam in her eyes.

“Oh, right, you have everything under control? That’s why Kane is ready to fucking pass out from exhaustion? That’s why you’re bent out of fucking shape that he’s going to leave and that he’s ‘just playing house?’ What the hell is your definition of ‘under control’?” Isabella rolled her water-colored eyes.

“I don’t think any of that shit has anything to do with your grandson, so it’s none of your fucking business. And Kane’s fine and he’s not going to leave and, even if he was, I wouldn’t give a fuck. That’s the end of things,” Isabel declared as if her word was law. It might have worked with another crowd.

“You’re just gonna tell that lie like it’s the truth?” Victoria asked with an incredulous look on her face, her mouth dropped open and her eyes wide. Her sister could not seriously just plainly tell _that_ lie.

“What the fuck are you even talking about?” Isabel asked against her better judgment.

“You like Kane! That’s why you get all worked up when I say he’s cute and I’d let him plow me like a fucking victory garden! So, why the hell don’t you just admit it and rib the guy before he actually leaves!” Victoria roared, throwing her arms out and her face was now turning bright red. She knew her sister was a bit romantically challenged, but come on!

“I don’t fucking like Kane!” Isabel hollered in return. The sound of her raising her voice seemed to be quite shocking to her baby. Hadrian broke out into a wail.

The three women calmed down as Isabel immediately started bouncing the baby in her arms. She rubbed Hadrian’s back while starting to sing a low song to him. Her mother and sister noted that the song was in Italian, which happened to be a language that Isabel did not speak. Isabella and Victoria glanced at each other with their mouths turned up in the exact same, skeptical manner.

“What the hell is the problem with liking Kane? I like Kane,” Victoria commented when Hadrian calmed down. The admission earned her quite the venomous glare from her big sister. She threw her hands up to chest level in a warding gesture. “Hey, I don’t mean it that way for once. I just mean he’s a nice guy. A billion times better than Jason. He’s willing to help you with Hadrian and he’s really into you. What’s the problem?”

“This is just a game to Kane. He’s going to leave soon,” Isabel muttered, sounding and looking borderline sorrowful. Her eyes turned to stare at the carpet for a few seconds while a lump rose in her throat. She swallowed hard to rid her throat of any discomfort while willing her eyes to return to her sister’s face.

“You’re not giving him any incentive to stay,” the blonde pointed out.

“There is no incentive. Kane does what he wants. He flirts with anyone with tits and he wanders at his own slow ass pace. He’s not staying no matter what I do. Kane’s a fucking child. So, just drop it,” Isabel ordered harshly, her shoulders so taut that it seemed like they would shatter if someone touched them.

Victoria looked away, as if she was seeing her sister naked, which she was. Isabel’s emotions were showing something terrible in her opinion; it was to the point that she figured that she would be seeing less of Isabel if the pale woman were standing before her completely nude. She did not know how to react aside from turning her eyes away.

“Izzie,” Isabella said.

“I’ll change my schedule when it’s necessary,” Isabel replied in a cold tone.

It was times like now that Isabella knew her personality did her daughters no good. Isabel needed emotional support and Isabella did not know how to provide it. All she could do was light a fire under Isabel’s ass and get her to stop feeling like the world was going to come crashing down around her someday soon.

“If you keep pushing him, yes, he’s going to leave. You’re not making it easy to stay. If you don’t want him around, fine, but if you do, you have to do something about it. Make up your mind on what you want to do with this _man_ ,” Isabella said as she walked over to her eldest, staring in those emerald eyes that typically looked as sharp as her own. The jade orbs did return to life under her gaze and then she plucked Hadrian from Isabel, making it seem as if that was her original intent.

“Man?” Isabel echoed. She searched her mind for a time that they ever referred to Kane as a man.

 _Can Kane really be considered a man_ , Isabel wondered. She supposed that he could be called that if she were willing to give him proper credit for everything he had done. For some reason that she could not acknowledge, at the moment she was willing to give him credit for everything. Well, he had stuck with her through some rather tough times over the last year, always smiling at her, always trying to keep her going. He seemed to stay strong and solid, for her more than any other reason. He was her rock and he was also her child’s father, despite the fact that he was told so many times that Hadrian was not his. All he would do was smile, a brilliant smile that lit up his whole face and made his eyes seem like regal stars. He always smiled.

He did all of the little things that people never did for her without a lot of yelling being involved. Kane just knew to do them instinctively or with wordless prodding, like when he brought her donuts in the morning or when he gave her rubdowns. He just seemed to know her. And that was why it was going to hurt so much when he inevitably left, so she did not want to get too attached to him.

“Mommy …” Isabel said in a low tone.

“Don’t tell me, Izzie. Tell him,” Isabella replied, seemingly reading her daughter’s mind.

Isabel nodded, even though she was not sure what to tell Kane. She was not even sure if she knew how to act around Kane anymore. She supposed that she would have to give it a try and see what came of that.

Isabel spent the day with her mother and sister. Hadrian seemed to enjoy the attention, giggling and smiling through out the visit. Kane showed up to pick up “his Bella” and son.

“Hey, Kane, I thought you would’ve escaped while you had the chance,” Victoria remarked with a laugh.

“Escape? I’m trapped with a beautiful woman and a great son! Where the fuck would I escape to and why the hell would I do it?” Kane asked with his usual grin. His eyes still looked a weary, dull violet instead of the typical vibrant purple.

“Somewhere where tits and ass are on a look **AND** touch basis. Somewhere like here,” Victoria suggested and she had the nerve to give him a little wiggle.

“Shut up, Vic!” Isabel barked as she marched over to Kane and shoved the baby bag in his arms. The force that she used to hand the bag over knocked him back a bit.

Victoria just laughed as the not-couple left with their son. Victoria looked at her mother, who was leaning against the wall of the living room entrance. Isabella rolled her eyes.

“That is actually the most fucked up relationship I have ever seen and I never thought Iz would’ve topped that weird relationship she had with that jackass Jason,” Victoria remarked with a laugh.

“If only you didn’t get her so worked up, I was going to show her your picture,” Isabella commented as she tossed a framed picture at her blonde daughter.

“Oh, you framed it? Cool,” Victoria said as she looked down at the photo of Kane sleeping with Hadrian napping on his chest. “Something like this would’ve blown Izzie’s head off of her shoulders tonight. Is it so hard to admit she likes Kane after thinking she actually loved Jason?”

“I don’t know what’s going on in that girl’s head right now and, to be perfectly honest, I don’t fucking _want_ to know. It’s got to be a dark, dark place,” Isabella commented. Victoria nodded in agreement with that. 

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel glanced at Kane as he drove to her apartment. They rode in silence, which was unusual. Kane was typically a chatterbox, after all; a perverted chatterbox at that, but he said nothing the entire trip. They made it all the way to the apartment in total silence; no one even bothered to turn on the radio. Isabel carried Hadrian up while Kane took care of the baby bag.

“Guess I’ll get going,” Kane said as he put the bag down on the coffee table.

That statement surprised Isabel. It was the first time that Kane proposed to leave. Usually, she had to throw him out.

“Um … Kane, why don’t you stay for a while? I’ll make us some dinner,” Isabel offered, looking away as she spoke.

Kane was glad she was not looking in his direction or she would have seen him grab his heart in pure shock; his heart stopped beating for a moment or three. He forgot how to speak for another moment. She had just politely offered him something. As much of a shock it was for him, he feared that if she had seen his reaction, she would have retracted the offer faster than she usually hit him. _Maybe I died sometime today and actually got to go to heaven_ , he considered.

“If you have somewhere to be, though …” Isabel added since he did not respond.

“What? No! I’d love to stay for a while and eat dinner,” he answered, holding off adding to his comment and making it a lot filthier than either of them needed at the moment. Isabel nodded; maybe she could behave properly around Kane and maybe he could behave properly around her.

_Maybe he is a man …_

_Maybe she’ll let me stay …_  

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Isabel is … nice to Kane. Maybe a little too nice.


	4. Food for thought

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian; he’s Disney’s character. Kane, Isabel, and her family are mine, though.
> 
> This chapter definitely earns that M rating, even though the prologue did that.

3: Food for thought

Kane was knocked out on the sofa; his mouth was open wide with his head thrown back on the arm of the couch. His arm was dangling off the side with his fingers brushing against the carpeted floor. His left leg was bent at the knee and pressed against the back of the couch while his left hand gripped his right shoulder. That was the sight that Isabel walked into her apartment to.

Isabel took a moment to pause and watch Kane sleep. He was one of the few people that she had ever seen that did not even seem innocent in his sleep. There was something just lecherous about him, even when he was unconscious.

She walked deeper into the apartment without waking him up. She silently made her way to the baby’s room. Hadrian was knocked out just as hard as his self-proclaimed father was.

 _Oh, god, my prince is starting to sleep like Kane_ , she thought with dread. She did not realize it, but she had adopted Kane’s nickname for the baby and used it just as often as Kane did now.

Hadrian was out on his back with his mouth thrown open. His left leg was slightly bent at the knee and his left hand was across his body, although not quite grabbing his shoulder. She shook her head at the sight.

“What am I to do with you guys?” she wondered aloud as she fixed the blanket onto Hadrian’s tiny form, making sure to cover him properly. She then leaned down to place a kiss on his forehead. He cooed in his sleep from the attention.

Isabel tiptoed out of the room and went to the linen closet, which was right across from the room. She pulled out a blanket and made her way back into the living room. She draped the blanket over Kane, smoothing it out after it landed on him. He let out a slight groan of approval as the cover landed on him.

“No kiss for you, though,” Isabel remarked in a whisper. She was smiling as she said those words.

She went about her night as usual. She went to take her shower, getting in as much time as she could before Hadrian woke up. She left the bathroom in a towel when she heard the baby crying. It would seem that she forgot Kane was still in the apartment and he was able to hear Hadrian just as well as she could.

Kane got up from the sofa just as Isabel walked by it. For a moment, he thought that he was dreaming. That was the only way to make sense of seeing the pale woman stroll by him in a short towel that left very little to the imagination, even though he had already seen all of Isabel. Sadly, that seemed like such a long time ago …

He wisely pretended to still be asleep while Isabel walked by, just in case he was not dreaming. His eyes followed her, taking in her creamy skin, causing him to lick his lips as his mind tried to recall just what she tasted like. He carefully watched as her long legs carried her to the baby’s room and he dared to imagine those legs wrapped around his narrow waist. It was a good thing he could not tell her body was still glistening from her shower or that she smelled like strawberries or he surely would have died as his blood pressure shot straight up and blew his head off.

Once Isabel was out of sight, he realized that if he was not dreaming, then Isabel had not woken him up when she came in as she usually did. He glanced down and noticed that he was covered with a blanket, which he knew for a fact he did not have when he first fell asleep. He looked back toward the door of Hadrian’s room.

“Did you do this, Bella? Are you letting me stay the night?” Kane muttered to the air. He knew that Isabel was trying to be more civil toward him lately, but he did not expect her to actually let him stay. Every night she came in, even when she was trying to be somewhat nice to him, she forced him off of her sofa and out of her home. _Why the change_ , he wondered. _She could be planning to kill me with kindness. I hope that kindness includes more strolls and less towels_.

-8-8-8-8-

“Shh,” Isabel whispered as she picked Hadrian up out of his crib. She bounced him slightly in her arms. “Quiet down, little prince. If you keep this up, you’ll wake up Kane. He’s been working really hard with you, so we should let him sleep.”

Hadrian could care less than nothing about waking his father. Food was more important than sleep, which was why he was awake and turning into his mother’s bosom. Isabel wasted no time slipping into the nearby rocking chair and loosening her towel for Hadrian to eat.

“I’m going to start feeding you cereal, boy. That way, you’ll be full for the night and we don’t have to go through this,” Isabel commented. She figured that he was old enough now for a little cereal and she did want to get him away from breast milk because she did not plan to breast feed him for much longer.

Hadrian probably would not be in favor of the change that his mother planned to make. He seemed at his happiest, and quietest, when curled up with her breast. His little hand pressed against her heart, feeling the gentle pounding as he filled his belly. The rise and fall of her chest was soothing and helped to keep him relaxed. The closeness to his mother made it easy for Hadrian to fall back to sleep after eating. Honestly, she enjoyed the quality time and bonding, but still, he could not have her boob forever.

When Hadrian was back to sleep, Isabel put him back into his crib. She covered him with his blanket and then covered herself properly with her fluffy, green towel. She went to check on Kane, making sure not to step too deep into the living room just in case he was awake. From what she could tell, he was still knocked out and, so, she went to bed.

Kane smiled when he heard Isabel’s bedroom door shut. It would seem that he was being allowed to stay the night. He drifted off back to sleep, smiling still.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Kane woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking. He yawned and checked his watch to see that he slept hours longer than he usually did. He blinked, briefly confused as to why that was, and then decided that the why did not even matter. He had definitely needed the extra sleep.

“Finally up?” Isabel called from the kitchen. She could hear him making noise from his spot on the couch.

Kane turned to pay her some mind and saw that she was wearing the damned short, ebony robe of hers. Vanilla skin was just on display like it was an art exhibit, begging to be licked in his opinion. He shook his head, making his unruly auburn hair wilder than it already was, trying to rid himself of his perverse thoughts for once in his life. _It’s too early to get beat up_ , he thought. _Besides, she’s trying for me, so I can try a little for her_.

“You even slept through Hadrian crying a few times,” Isabel informed him.

“Wow. I must’ve been tired if that big mouth didn’t wake me up,” he remarked while scratching the top of his head.

“It’s all right,” she assured him. _Maybe I am depending too much on him_ , she considered because of how hard he had slept on her sofa. When she woke up, she went to check on him, thinking that Kane would be awake long before she was since he always arrived at the apartment when she was still in bed. He was still down for the count when she got up, though.

Kane nodded, even though Isabel was focused on the stove than him. He swung his legs over the side of the sofa to sit up properly. He yawned and threw his arms out to stretch, feeling his broad shoulders crack. As he shut his mouth, he realized that he had been sleeping hard because he could pretty much taste the sleep on his tongue; he supposed it was a damn good thing that he would not be kissing anyone that morning.

“You going to sit there all day?” Isabel asked with her eyes still locked on the stove.

“Huh?’ Kane said, showing that he was a bit surprised by her voice.

“Why don’t you go take a shower? By the time you get out, the food should be ready,” she informed him.

Kane nodded. “I don’t have any clothes,” he muttered more to himself than anyone else.

“Your laundry is in that bag by the door,” she told him. She had not heard him, but she did know that he would need his clothes for after his shower.

Kane nodded again; it was a good thing that Isabel did his laundry for him, he supposed. He remembered the first time that she offered to do his laundry … well, it was not so much an offer as a threat on his life. He supposed that it was her way of being nice to him, calling him a “fucking moron” when she found out that he paid for someone to do his laundry for him. It was that day she learned he did not know how to do laundry and, if he did not pay someone, he would have constantly buy new clothes or walk around naked. She did his laundry for him from that moment on without him asking. 

As he rose to retrieve his clean clothes, he thought about the other times she was “nice” to him. It always involved a lot of cursing, much more than when she was genuinely upset with him. She also always made it seem like it was normal for her to be nice to him, which brought his mind to her current state of “niceness.” So far, he could tell that she was forcing it, but he did not say anything. He would wait and see how long she would force it.

He made his way to the bathroom and started his shower. He washed his body and as he lathered up his washcloth, he realized the soap that he was using smelled like Isabel. Or more precisely, she smelled like the soap. The scent was subtle on her, hidden underneath whatever the hell she wore that smelled like ripe strawberries; whatever that was made him want to take a bite out of her much of the time.

“Delicious,” he mumbled with a smile.

He also used her shampoo to wash his wild hair. He noted that it smelled quite like the soap. He supposed he would smell quite feminine for the day, not that he cared. The main point was that he was clean. Besides, no one was going take a sniff of him anyway, no one that mattered anyway and he doubted that Isabel cared what he smelled like.

By the time he came back out into the dining room, breakfast was on the table. He wondered if the lone plate sitting there was for him. Isabel was not there for him to ask, though. He turned around to go to the one other place he figured that she might be – Hadrian’s room.

They ran into each other in the small hallway. Emerald and amethyst eyes went wide briefly, shocked by the sight that greeted them. They took each other in for a moment.

Kane was standing before Isabel with sleeveless t-shirt on, showing off his thick, muscular arms and chest. His hair was still wet from his shower and behaving for probably the first time since Isabel had known him. His dark red hair hung freely and straight, sticking to his forehead, neck, and shoulders. The skin of his shoulders and neck was still shining from the water, calling attention to his torso and she stared for more seconds than she liked.

While Isabel was eyeing him, he was doing the same with her and doing his best not to drool. She was still wearing her short robe, but it was hanging off of her shoulders; that was thanks to Hadrian tugging at the cloth a short while ago. Her creamy, ample breasts were pretty much being showcased just like her delightful legs. For a second, Kane dared to wonder how she even managed to do martial arts with such a bosom, but after that second, he could care less about that. All he really wanted to do was reach out and squeeze them with his hands and then with his lips.

Isabel regained her senses first and noticed how Kane was leering at her. Her hand clenched into a fist and her arm tensed, which got Kane’s attention. He braced himself for a punch that, strangely, did not arrive. He watched as her body shook for a moment, wanting to hit him from what he could tell, but her brain did not seem to be allowing it.

“Go ahead,” he told her. He knew what she desired and he figured he deserved it; he was caught in a lustful moment, after all.

“Go eat breakfast,” she ordered as she managed to relax her hand, losing the fist in that act.

Kane’s face scrunched up and he squinted in confusion, as if he did not understand what she meant. A glare from those sharp green eyes got him moving, though. He marched to the table and sat down to tear into his breakfast, which consisted of pancakes, an omelet with cheese and peppers, sausage slices, hash browns, and a glass of orange juice. It was a more elaborate spread than she usually made; one that he doubted he would make it through.

“You eating?” Kane asked curiously while picking up a fork, which was waiting him by the side of the plate.

“I ate already,” Isabel replied dryly while going off back to her room.

Kane sighed and stared down at the food. It looked really good, but for some reason he did not feel like eating it. When Isabel came back out, now full dressed, she found him playing with his food. She growled in anger, which he heard and he turned around, ready to be pounced like a deer by a mountain lion.

 _She damn sure looks pissed_ , he noted. He guessed that she spotted him designing a skull with his hash browns. He waited for the yelling and was in for quite a surprise.

“You don’t like the food?” Isabel inquired in a gentle tone that came out of clenched teeth. Oh, how she longed to scream at him for playing with her good food, but she was trying to be civil and polite toward him. _I_ _ **can**_ _be civil and polite toward the little idiot_ , she mentally insisted. _Even if he has the nerve to be playing with my fucking food, like I didn’t work hard to make it!_

Kane was thrown by her voice and was shocked into silence for a few seconds. He had to swallow around a lump in his throat while willing the hair on the back of his neck to settle down. He wished that she just hollered at him about his behavior; it would be more natural and so much more his Bella.

“Wha? No, I do!” Kane practically shouted with a huge grin.

“Then why don’t you eat it?” she suggested, teeth still clenched together and a vein starting to poke out of the side of her head. Her hand closed into a fist.

Kane gulped and thought about the knot that would soon be on his head, but once again the hit never came. He turned back to his food and started eating while Isabel walked back into the back. He actually frowned.

“This isn’t much fun…” he muttered, not too sure what he even meant. He started eating, forcing he food into his stomach. He made it halfway through the meal before he heard her voice again.

“Kane, I’m going shopping,” Isabel announced from the hallway. She was checking on Hadrian one last time. He was sitting up in his crib, enjoying beating the crap out of a toy bear his aunt brought for him.

“You don’t want me to come?” he asked in shock. One of her favorite ways to torment him was to take him grocery shopping and scold him on every food that he wanted her to get. _Damn her and her health-conscious ways! What does it matter if I want to eat hamburger until it comes out of my ears!_

“No, you stay here with the baby.”

“But … who’ll drive?” he inquired as if he was the only person on the planet that could operate a vehicle. Isabel was notorious when it came to driving…or what she called driving anyway. He let her behind the wheel once and the shock had been enough for _her_ to never want to think about driving again. He had silently made a vow to teach her, but he had not had the chance to do so yet. First, he had to get his heart to stop palpitating whenever he just thought about teaching.

“I’ll take a cab. This is what I did before you came around, handsome,” she remarked with a small wink.

Kane was pretty sure he died the moment the word “handsome” left her mouth; after all, people could not live if their hearts stopped beating. Isabel realized what she said and did well after the word and wink was done. She decided to ignore it and go about her business.

“You sure you don’t want me to go?” the purple-eyed man inquired, trying to get things back to normal. He tried to ignore the fact that his brain was telling him it was damn weird for her to call him such a pet name. He actually did not want to hear it again.

“I’m fine on my own. You just woke up. Relax a little,” she replied. “Hadrian’s up, but he’s fine in his crib,” she added while going to the front door.

“Okay …” he answered lamely.

Isabel exited the apartment, shutting the door behind her. As soon as she was away from his gaze, she fell against the door. She breathed an exhausted sigh.

“Fuck, not hitting him is worse than kicking his ass out at night,” Isabel muttered while rubbing her face with one hand. “I feel exhausted!”

-8-8-8-8-

“Dammit, her being nice is worse than being hit. It’s like she’s smacking me with the tension between us every time she moves,” Kane said to himself. He then started in on his breakfast, finally able to eat and enjoy the food because it seemed like a pressing, dark cloud had left the apartment when Isabel walked out of the door. He was not too sure how long he would be able to survive her being “nice” to him.

He supposed one of the problems with her “nice” act was because it was not her usual way of being. If she was nice to him before, it never involved such effort. It also did not involve her holding back when she was angry with him. Her behavior was sickeningly artificial.

“Maybe she’ll get sick of this soon enough,” or so he hoped.

Soon could not come fast enough for Kane. He had no problem with being allowed to stay at the apartment and sleep on her sofa. He had no problem with getting free, delicious meals. He had no problem with using her soap and shampoo, smelling quite sweet.

What he did have a problem with was watching Isabel force out a saccharine smile whenever he did something lecherous or annoying. He disliked watching her body shake as she fought down the urge to bash his skull in when he did something that he knew deserved a beating, like when he brushed up against her inappropriately, which he did often. He hated seeing that vein in the side of her head bulge when she wanted to scream at him for doing something wrong, and he did plenty of wrong things.

Kane knew that he was not a perfect creature; hell, he enjoyed his imperfections and liked being bad. He had no problem with taking punishment when he earned it, but Isabel was no longer intent on punishing him. That was against her nature in his opinion and it bothered him to see her being unlike herself. Although he did admit that he was flattered by her effort; maybe she did want to keep him around. _But, at what expense? She’ll drive herself nuts if she keeps letting me get away with stuff! Not to mention, she’ll drive me nuts!_

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel collapsed into bed, ready to sleep the next day away. She felt like she was training for a big fight by being nice to Kane. He did some of the most utterly mindless things and it seemed like with each day that past he got stupider. She wanted to just trash him for it! But, she was holding off. _Surely being nice to him will keep him around for a little longer_.

“If it doesn’t kill me first,” Isabel muttered into her pillow.

Now, she did not mind him sleeping on her couch and she did not mind cooking for him. He was not bothering anyone on the sofa and she cooked for him long before she made the conscious decision of being nice to him. The thing that was getting to her was that she had to put up with him and his insane behavior without being able to correct him.

That day alone she wanted to scream at him and hit him for over a dozen things in one afternoon. She caught him drooling over her when she was bending down to pick something up. He “accidentally” walked in on her when she was feeding Hadrian. He even cupped her ass when they passed each other in the kitchen.

“I can’t do this much longer. I’m going to have to stomp a fucking mud-hole in his stomach,” Isabel muttered to herself.

She had been tempted to go complain to her mother about being nice to Kane, but she knew that she would not get any sympathy from that demon woman. In reality, she did not want sympathy. She just wanted to punch Kane into a bloody mess and move on with her life.

“I’m either going to have to do that or let this whole thing kill me because I don’t know if I’ll be able to get out of this bed the next time I hit the mattress if I keep this up,” she commented to the air.

She frowned as her mind let the thought enter her head that Kane was probably getting a big kick out of her being nice to him. He undoubtedly loved the fact that he was getting a chance to molest her and there were no consequences. She growled while shifting from her right side to her left side.

“I hate that little bastard and he needs to go fucking home,” Isabel said while punching her pillow, wishing it was his big head.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel came into a usual sight of Kane being knocked out on the couch. He covered himself with a blanket for once, so she did not have to bother with him, which was good. She would have left him to freeze on the couch from the way that she was feeling toward him right now.

She went to check on Hadrian before going to take her shower. Hadrian was still in the habit of being fed in the middle of the night, so she went to take care of him as soon as she heard his cries. His noise woke Kane up, who muttered nonsense words to himself as he sat up on the couch.

“Bathroom …” Kane got up from the couch to go to the bathroom.

Removing the cover from his body revealed that he was sleeping in just his boxers. He realized that he had not picked the right blanket for the night; _I should’ve just let Bella get me one_ , he thought. The one he was using was heavy and he had to strip to avoid overheating.

He marched to the bathroom, took care of his business, and walked out into the hall to be greeted by a fantastic sight. But then again, his fantastic sight would agree that her end of the view was not half bad either.

 _Dammit, why is he walking around like that?_ Isabel wondered as her lower anatomy twitched. Forget the fact that she was just in a towel, he was in his boxers and showing off his perfect chest. She had forgotten that he had such tight abs and practically perfect pecs. His arms were so cut and thick. She just wanted to feel every inch of his hard body right now.

Kane was not only having similar thoughts, but his hands were not even looking to behave decently. He had seen way too much skin in the very long week of Isabel being nice to him and she was just way too close right now. His hands wanted to feel the soft flesh that was so forbidden to him while being shown off by a woman that was little more than a siren as far as he was concerned. Her movements were the song that called him to his doom, especially her breathing at the moment.

Isabel’s arm flexed and her hand balled into a tight fist as Kane’s hand fell right on the swell of her left breast. He noticed, glancing at her hand and then turning his violet eyes to her jade ones. He could see the fires of Hell blazing in her eyes; not to mention of a fire burning behind that one.

“Go ahead. Hit me,” he whispered to her almost as if he was saying something sexy.

 _Oh, god, how I want to do just that!_ She wanted to slap him silly, but she was a little distracted by two things: his bare chest and his large hand on her breast. She did attack him, just not in the way that either of them expected.

Isabel pushed Kane’s hand from her and yanked him to her. She crashed her mouth against his, kissing him rough; it was like a serious assault. He tensed for a moment, his eyes as wide as plums, and his body unable to respond.

 _She’s kissing me!_ _Holy shit, she’s kissing me! Yes! Oh, wait, I can’t just stand here or she might stop!_

Kane returned the kiss, pressing back with all that he had, hoping it would convince her to never let his lips go. He resisted her as she tried to push him back against the wall; _oh, no_ , he thought. She had control the last time they danced. It was his turn.

Kane pushed forward, taking Isabel by surprise. She gave up ground without meaning to, her back hitting the wall of the narrow hall. Her body protested when she realized that she was being pinned; she was never supposed to give ground. She tried to push back, but he pressed against her, his firm form contacting the light fabric of her towel. She moaned from the slight pressure.

_Shit, that felt good! But, I can’t let him think he’ll dominate me. We’ll do this my way or no way!_

She dug her hands into his shoulders, thinking that she would push him away. Instead of repelling him, her fingers grasped onto him, nails biting into his smooth skin, unable to do more than enjoy the feel of his flesh. Her hands prompted his hands to return the favor, wrapping around her waist, clutching at the towel around her.

Finding herself unable to get away from the shorter body in front of her, Isabel decided to take charge in some other way. She licked at his lips, seeming to order him to allow her in. He parted his lips as if she had said the secret word and soon he felt her hot tongue exploring his mouth. He tilted his head back more, allowing her to probe deeper; she took him up on that offer.

Isabel moaned again as she tasted him. He was hot and spicy; undoubtedly because of the peppers that were included with dinner, but underneath all of that, some of the zing had to be all Kane. She wanted all of that and tried for it; he did not stop her.

In contract, the short fellow thought Isabel tasted sweet, just like she smelled. He thought it was odd for such a dangerous person to taste as if she had been made out of sugar, like that old nursery rhyme. “Sugar, spice, and everything nice …” He completely agreed that was what this girl was made of.

As the fierce kiss continued, they both swore that they could feel the flames of their passion burning through their bodies into each other. It was like their fire touched and intertwined, mixing with each other to make the blaze hotter. Underneath that, something else seemed to touch and connect, but they ignored it for the moment. Only one sort of touching mattered right now.

They pulled away from each other for a breath or two, nothing more than that. They remained close to each other, mouths parted, practically breathing down each other’s throats. Barely a second later, they were back to trying to devour each other bit by bit.

Kane’s hand eventually fisted around the offending towel that hid Isabel from him. He tugged slightly at the fabric, yanking it down. Isabel’s mind pointed out that she was about to be exposed and things were probably going to progress while they were still standing in the hall, right outside of the baby’s room.

Isabel pulled away from his wanting mouth momentarily. “Kane,” she whispered.

“Eh?” he answered, trying his best to come back in for another kiss.

“Not here,” she said, avoiding his mouth, even though it was so tempting to just go back for more.

Kane, functioning with almost no brain at all considering where all his blood was, did not understand what she meant. “Then where?” he inquired with a look of panic. _Is she backing out? Was this some fucking tease? Come on!_ He had not had any for over a year and she had gotten him all worked now. He needed to have her.

“The baby …” she reminded him weakly.

He nodded, showing that he understood. He released his hold on her towel. She clutched the towel to her and turned to walk away. She took his hand in hers and dragged him to her bedroom. He followed her like a happy puppy, even smiling on the way.

Once inside of the room, Kane sprang on Isabel again, not giving her a chance to use the brief pause to take control of the situation. He pushed up against her, grabbing her around the waist, and putting his mouth to hers in another searing kiss. Before Isabel could even think, her arms were around his neck, pulling him closer to her. It was like she was trying to merge with him.

He backed them up to the large bed that was waiting for them. Isabel felt her legs bump the wooden frame, but did not move to rest upon the bed. He was not accepting of that, grabbing a long, ivory leg and resting it on his hip. He then moved forward, basically tripping her onto the bed.

With her leg on his hip, Isabel became aware of a certain presence against her, even though soft, cotton boxers shielded it. She rocked into his zeal as a greeting, enjoying the cool feeling against her hot skin. Kane groaned into her mouth because of her actions. She could feel the rumble in his chest since they were pressed so close to each other. It caused her to shiver in delight.

“Kane,” she hissed while pulling away for some air. “I want you,” she whispered in an almost desperate voice.

“That’s kinda obvious,” he remarked, wisely not sporting his stupid grin or he would have been minus some teeth at that point.

“Shut up then,” she commanded with a primitive growl.

“You started it.”

She snarled at him, top lip curling upward like a furious cat. He put an end to that by coming in for another kiss. She pulled him down to her, allowing him to feel the plush fabric of the towel, which he was not in favor it. He wanted her skin.

A wandering olive-toned hand crept across a milky thigh, leaving a trail of wanting flesh in its wake. The fingertips noted that the skin felt like silk, almost as if he forgot. But, then again, neither of their brains were able to function well enough to do much remembering or noticing right now beyond their carnal desires. A moan echoed through the room, as if a plea for more.

The hand moved from the thigh to the hem of the towel. The annoying cloth was yanked away and placed off to the side. With that done, Kane had to pull away. He needed to see what treasure his actions uncovered.

Amethyst-colored eyes examined the pale skin, appraising it from what Isabel could tell. Kane’s gaze was steady and hard while slowly wandering down her body. The creamy flesh looked so ready for feasting, smelled as if it was practically done. He wanted his meal how, but held off.

After looking over Isabel, Kane’s hands went on to explore what was his for the moment; he did think of her as his always, though. He started with her neck, carefully following the curve with his palm, thumb, and index finger on both hands. She pressed herself into his gentle discovery, mewing happily as he went from her neck to her shoulder. He brought his hands down her arms and then brought them back up, moving to her torso now.

When he got to her breasts, she was surprised that his touch did not become more fervent. The pressure of his hands remained constant as he went over the swell of her bosom and the taut rosy peaks. He seemed so mesmerized by her body, going over every inch of her torso with great care. She was stuck in place, entranced by his touch. They were both just experiencing each other.

His hands wandered up and down her long, graceful legs. Inside, outside, around, down, and back up again. A small cry got caught in Isabel’s throat when his hands settled on her rump, kneading the fleshy area there.

“You’re incredible, Bella,” Kane whispered heatedly.

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” she remarked with a half-smirk.

He supposed she was right. Flattery had gotten him nowhere, yet there he was in his own personal paradise. He was not sure what got him there, but he had no plans of leaving at the moment.

“What about this, though?” Kane’s index finger traced the curve of her rear, earning him a groan from her. “Will that get me anywhere?” he inquired with a smart-aleck look in his eyes.

“Punched in the face,” she growled, making a fist and getting ready to go through with that threat if he kept teasing her.

“Ouch, Bella. You certainly know how to spoil the mood.”

Isabel snarled. “Fuck, Kane. If this is going to be another joke to you—AH!”

Her reprimand had been cut off by his busy index finger leaving her ass and going in search for more intimate company in between her legs. She threw her head back; the sudden movement caused her breasts to bounce. The motion caught his eye immediately. _It’s time for my feast to begin_ , he thought.

Kane brought his head down to the valley of her chest. He kissed the flawless flesh, going from the valley to the collarbones to her shoulders on both sides. Once he was certain that he marked that part of her, he went to the appetizer of the midnight snack. His unoccupied hand came up to assist him as he went to the bouncing mounds and ceased the bouncing.

His mouth attached to one peak while his hand kneaded the other. His fingers manipulated the engaged hill, occasionally twisting the pink pearl at the top. The actions drew loud cries from Isabel, who placed her hands on his back to keep him with her. _As if I would ever move from here_ , he thought.

Kane made sure to take note that her hands were on him. He wanted to keep track of her movements because he knew that the instant he lost her, she would have control of the situation and he did not want that. She had her chance, after all. _My time. Mine!_ He nibbled the pink pearl in between his lips.

Isabel became quite aware of where Kane’s head was as he started suckling her. She almost wanted to scold him over it, which let her know just how long it had been since she had been touched in such a way without it being for food. Once she got over the initial shock, she realized just how wonderful he was making her feel and she let loose a long, loud moan.

The feel of Kane against her, touching her, tasting her, was like coming out into the warm sun after being in a windowless cell for years. He bathed her in an enchanting sensation that embraced her whole being. This one short, goofy, talented man caressed everything that made her who she was.

Isabel’s hands moved against his ripped back, feeling the cuts of his muscles. She lifted her head slightly, just to watch him. She saw his olive-tone blending into her near-white skin. He was working her with all that he had and she could see that she was starting to flush because of that; her body was turning light red thanks to him.

Kane would have thought that it was appropriate that she was now a dull scarlet; after all, she did smell like strawberries and she did taste ever-so sweet. He got more than he thought in regards to tasting to her as she was lactating and all. He took the milk along with the rest of her as she gripped the back of his head to keep him at her breast. It bothered him a bit; breast milk was not as delicious as his son made it seem.

He changed from suckling to nipping, which earned him more moans from the deadly woman beneath him. His teeth grazed across the silky skin, eventually leaving a mark on her pale form. She returned the favor, scratching his back while wrapping her leg around his waist, still trying to pull him closer.

“Kane …” she practically whined. _God, it’s been more than a year since I’ve had this and he’s doing such a damn good job!_ She wanted more now … too bad she was not in charge.

“Patience, Bella. I’ve got to finish the first course before moving onto the main one,” he commented.

Isabel wondered what he was going on about and then she felt his hand leave her center. She whimpered at the loss and felt like beating him senseless when he pulled way from her cleavage. The noise prompted him to leave his hand on one swell, but his mouth had other matters to attend to. He then did something that no other lover that she had did – he inspected his finger that had been playing with her and was coated in her essence. He then licked his finger and smiled. She was not sure what to make of it.

“Tasty. It’s like wine with my meal,” he remarked.

Isabel was not sure what he meant until his head began a descent. He kissed his way down her stomach, leaving a saliva trail on the way. She watched with interest when he came to his destination. She could not believe that he was going to do that without her having to suggest it.

Kane wasted no time diving right into what he secretly dubbed her “fruity center.” He ran his tongue up and down, gathering up the “wine.” Isabel’s head thrashed to the side and she thrust her hips up, encouraging him to have more than a taste. He eagerly accepted the invitation, taking in all that she gave and wanting more. She concurred, which was why she placed a hand on his head and pushed him deeper into her rocking hips.

A hand pressed against her thigh for a moment, moving against her leg until it was back in the place it left moments ago. The pad of his thumb went to flick her main switch of nerves while his tongue went to the source of her heat. Isabel shouted to the ceiling and put her other hand to his head while wrapping her legs around his neck. If Kane had any thoughts of getting up, he would not be able to; luckily, the thought never crossed his mind.

The room filled with her cries and slurping noises as he drank from her and her hands ran through his hair with each movement of his tongue. The mixed musk assaulted the air and graced her nose; he was buried too deep within her to know he even had a smell. He was well aware that she was hanging onto him, though. He made sure his hands and mouth never stopped until he took her to the heights of ecstasy.

She felt a knot tightening and pressure building thanks to him. Her hands fisted in his hair, pulling his wild auburn mane. Her chest heaved, body flushing further as the pleasure continued to intensify like a raging river blocked by a dam. He was the wrecking ball for that dam.

Isabel screamed ferociously when his goal was finally achieved. The dam broke and he was flooded, happily gulping all that was her as she convulsed under his hold. His hand on her breast did not move as she shook and shivered from his direct attention.

Isabel closed her eyes tightly as she realized that she was going to be riding that wave for more time than she expected because he was not letting up. Her mouth was agape, hanging open wide, even though her scream was long over. She was pretty sure that she now knew just what heaven was like and she definitely wanted to go there when she died; hell, she wanted to go there now and she was still there.

Once she drifted back down to Earth, her body settled down and stilled. She opened her eyes to see Kane resting his head on her thigh. He was watching her with interested purple eyes.

“Don’t say anything,” she ordered, trying to force anger into her voice, but it was impossible to do so at the moment.

He did not argue that and she cupped his face with her hands. She pulled him back up to her face and kissed him hard again. Her tongue forced its way into his mouth and almost immediately noticed that he was not as spicy as he was before. There was something taking away from and she knew that it was her. Her tongue worked on ridding his mouth of any trace of her to get all of his sharp taste back.

While returning the kiss, Kane had to hold himself up with one hand. Her hands worked their way down his body, making sure to feel every inch of his chiseled torso as she did so. When she got to his waist, she pushed down his boxers. He sighed as she freed him from that cloth prison. She used her longer legs to help push the underwear all the way down his body. He stepped out of them once they were low enough.

Kane joined her completely on the bed while Isabel continued to try to clean his mouth of what she believed to be her polluting flavor. He kept himself up with his hand against the mattress, but he did make sure to come into contact with her body. They both moaned as their skin meet and every nerve ending between them seemed to kiss each other as a greeting.

Isabel was distracted from her task as she felt him poking at her and she gathered what he was trying to do. She sucked her teeth while pulling away. She glared at him with narrow emerald eyes while he just grinned.

“You’re such a fucking useless idiot,” she growled while reaching between them.

He let out a low groan as she touched him and guided him to her. He nudged her, causing her to whimper and they both realized something: it was going to be a tight fit. They both cursed; he did not want to hurt her.

“Fuck, Kane, just go, dammit,” she ordered in pure frustration. She did not give a damn if she was sown shut at this point. If he dared to stop, she would kill him; she would seriously murder him. “Kane—AH!” And there went her threat.

Kane felt like screaming too once he was secured within her warmth. He could not move immediately. His body refused and his brain had to coach him on what not to do, namely not to ruin the whole thing. He took a few calming breaths while she adjusted to him.

“Are you sleeping or something?” she inquired, holding in another whimper. She was tempted to beg him to move now, but she would not give him the satisfaction. _I don’t beg, no matter how much I fucking want to!_

“Like hell,” he growled like an angry canine.

“Then move it,” she commanded.

Kane growled again and his first move was hard and fast. She cried out and clutched his shoulders; _dammit_ , he caught her by surprise. He tried again, only she matched the move. For a few moments, it was a competition, but they could not keep that up as they lost themselves in the feel of each other, the heaven that was the other. They moved together, united, bonded.

As Kane set a subtle pace, his head dropped to her neck. He wasted no time showering the area in hot, wet kisses. She held onto him, purring due to his affection. Her leg wrapped around his own, caressing him as he touched her soul. His flame seemed to set her ablaze in a way that a star would envy.

The familiar tension wrapped around her stomach, his every move fueling the fire. The feel of his velvety tongue lapping at her neck as if he was licking an ice cream cone as he left scorch marks on her body compiled the inferno. Combustion was imminent, she knew it and he knew it. Little did either of them know, but it was more like a nuclear explosion than ignition that Isabel expected.

She scratched deep into his back and clung to him like security blank as she lost track of the world, moaning and whimpering as she did so. She could not even scream anymore, she just held on for dear life as she reached a goal that she could not even imagine existed. All of her senses merged into one – touch and everything experienced the mind-blowing sensation.

Kane did not notice he was wounded as he was currently checked out just like she was. Breathing through his nose as his mouth was just stuck open, unable to make a sound. The world around him collapsed, gripped him, and made him see stars. Despite the fact that he just dropped off the edge, he kept moving, trying to make it last as long as he could.

They both remained still after Kane just could not move anymore. His face was still nuzzled in her neck and she was still holding onto him with both her arms and legs. The connection was still there also, neither making a move to sever the physical bond just yet. They turned to each other after a while and shared a tender kiss. Kane then regarded her with a thoughtful look.

“I don’t have to go back to the couch now, do I?” he asked curiously.

She chuckled. “Idiot.”

No couch for Kane that night. He was able to sleep next to Isabel for the first time in well over a year. They settled down in her bed; she curled up next to him, falling sleep quite easily with her head against his shoulder and a hand on his stomach. He, surprisingly enough, remained awake.

“A guy could get used to this,” he muttered to the darkness.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kane realizes that Isabel has a power over him, a power that she seems to abuse. Isabel finds a prophecy coming true.


	5. Crying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian; he’s Disney’s character. Kane, Isabel, and her family are mine, though.

4: Crying

Kane lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He had just had what most would consider a fantastic night, taking the sexiest woman he had ever met to the height of passion several times and getting to sleep next to her in afterwards. He should have been basking in the afterglow and beaming with pride, but he could not bring himself to do that. All he could think was that it felt like déjà vu, which caused a sizzling, bubbling sensation in his chest, like boiling oil was popping inside of him.

He remembered back to the last time he had Isabel curled into his side, sleeping peacefully with a small smile on her face. She looked so utterly content to him now, like an angel in her proper place, and had then, too. And, back then, he strongly recalled waking up alone in bed. He would never forget the empty feeling that hollowed out his entire being, like he had been forced to drink paint thinner. He did not want to go through that again.

He figured that, back then, he wanted more than Isabel was willing to give, which he could understand since she had a steady boyfriend at the time. She also did not know him quite well back then, even though she had gone to bed with him. Still, he knew her just as well as she knew him, yet he wished from something from her, to get to know her better as well as other things. Once again, he considered that he might desire more than Isabel was willing to share. His heart and soul already began to crack and shatter, thinking back to the last time.

He brought his hand up to rub his forehead; the hand that was not tucked under Isabel’s sleeping form. It was like he was trying to massage those thoughts away, but he was not successful. His throat started to seize up as he continued to think about the morning he woke up without her. Calling him a wreck would have been like calling the Titanic sinking a “minor mishap.”

-*-(Flashback)-*-

Kane woke up from the best sleep that he had had in months. A smile crept onto his face as he yawned, but that faded as soon as he started feeling the space near him. His hand was caressing the cold bed sheet instead of the warm body that had been there not too long ago. He had to open his eyes to find out if he was just feeling in the wrong space or something far worse.

“No …” he muttered when he saw that he was alone in bed.

There was something about waking up and finding her gone that caused his heart to contract painfully, as if it was going to collapse in on itself. His breathing became more rapid and shallow, like his ribs had crushed his lungs. He had to sit up, trying to correct his breathing.

“Okay, okay, okay. Maybe she just went to the bathroom or to get something to eat or just about anything,” he told himself, trying to be rational about things if only to save his body from destroying itself.

He waited around for a few minutes, hoping that she would come back, but she did not. He got up and tossed on a pair of shorts before leaving the room. He searched every section of the house, silently praying that he would come across her. No such luck, though. He was alone … again.

Being alone … it actually made him feel physically ill. He wanted to throw up, but held it in. The urge to vomit made his throat burn while his soul felt like it was withering right inside of him like an abandoned flower. He had to consciously tell himself not to pass out.

Kane thought that by now he would be used to being alone. He would be able to go about his day as usual since Isabel left, but that was not the case. It was like a piece of him has abandoned him. His heart continued to beat at an odd pace and his breathing did not correct itself. He could not work out, he could not go outside; he could not do anything except wonder why she left. She consumed his thoughts and continued to make him feel sick with her absence.

“She couldn’t stick around for just a little longer?” he asked himself. The answer was obvious.

The house felt huge to him now. He remembered the last time the place seemed to go on forever, yet still managed to crush him. He now recalled why he made it a point to be home as little as possible. It was just too much space for one person. It seemed to have an echo when he was there without anyone else. It seemed to have a presence, too; one that mocked him and his loneliness.

He ran out of the house by the late afternoon, not sure where he was going, but needing to be away from there. He tried calling Manny to find out if he knew where Isabel was, but Manny did not know anything about her whereabouts at the time. Kane did not know anyone else that he could call to ask about Isabel.

“Why are you looking for her anyway? I thought you agreed to leave her the hell alone,” Manny commented.

Kane did not miss a beat in answering that one. “Since when do I _ever_ leave anyone alone?” he countered.

“You got me there. Well, she hasn’t called me or anything, but she should be around in a few days. We’ve got a fight scene coming up and everything. You want me to tell her anything if I see her?”

Kane thought about it for a long moment. _What do I want from Bella exactly?_ He was not sure, but he was positive that whatever it was, she was not willing to deliver it. After all, she just left him that morning without a goodbye, despite everything that they had done, despite everything they had made each other feel. They shared nothing more than a night or at least, in Isabel’s eyes more than likely. He felt like they shared so much more.

“Hello, Kane? You there?” Manny asked because of the silence on the other end.

“Yeah, I’m still here,” he replied, sounding normal, even though every inch of him was dejected and doused in despair.

“You want me to tell her anything?” the chocolate-skinned film-maker inquired again.

“No, nothing at all,” Kane answered and then he hung up without saying goodbye.

He sank to his knees, at a payphone in the middle of the streets. He stayed that way for almost five minutes, broken and defeated. How could she, one woman, cause him so much pain more than once? He did not know the answer, but he reminded himself of something that he did know: Isabel had a power over him and right now, he was experiencing its mighty sting.

-*-(End flashback)-*-

“She _still_ has this power over me …” Kane whispered to himself.

Isabel had the power to hurt him in a way that no one alive did. Not only did she have the power, but she was somewhat aware of it and she exercised it without misery on more than one occasion. She had no problem with injuring him and had only apologized once for it … and _that_ was actually causing him to bleed. Other than that, she cut him with her words whenever the urge overtook her, used him whenever she found it convenient or necessary, and sucked his soul from him whenever she found that she needed something; he could go to Hell for all she cared, he dared to consider.

“This woman is my own personal succubus,” he realized while glancing over at his sleeping goddess. Even in her sleep, he could feel the power that she wielded against him because his heart melted at the sight of her. He wanted nothing more than to hold her and caress her while she slept, even though he recalled just how callous she could be toward him.

Kane took a deep breath and rubbed his face with his hand again. His heart clinched so tightly that he actually winced. He knew what the pain was; he was afraid that she was going to hurt him again. Maybe not like before, but somehow equal to that, if not greater than that pain.

“Bella is going to be the death of me …” he dreaded and he felt all of the blood drain from his body. His breathing became erratic as his fear heightened, his mind starting to wonder what would happen to him if she woke up and it was back to business as usual. _What if she cast me aside like before_? He was certain that he would not be able to take it again, even though he had guessed something like that would happen back then.

Kane eased himself away from Isabel, who surprisingly did not wake up. She was usually quite the light sleeper; not that he knew that. But, right now, she was exceptionally peaceful, contented and so very beautiful. He was able to untangle himself from her, even though part of him wanted to just stay cuddled up with her.

He was about to start pacing the bedroom, but he thought that might wake her. So, he made his way out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. He paced the short hallway, trying to calm himself down, but his body was not cooperating.

 _Why can’t I just enjoy this? I got to be with Bella again. Why can’t that just be it?_ He knew the little reasons and felt like he could ignore those, but it was the big picture that he recognized. He felt like that was the one doing him in. He could not explain why she was able to cause him such pain or why he wanted more from her than he knew she was willing to give or why he was so bothered by the thought that she was going to move on without him again.

Kane ran his hand through his messy auburn hair, making him recall _her_ hands in his hair. His knees were ready to buckle as he wondered if he would ever feel her hands in his wild hair ever again. Maybe she needed to revitalize her control over him, he thought, which stopped him.

“Do I really think that was just to keep me under her thumb for a little longer? No, she enjoyed that as much as I did, just like the first time. But, just like the first time, that doesn’t mean she’ll stay with me. How long can I do this? I’m only hurting myself by giving her this power over me. What am I going to do when she goes beyond what she’s doing now to doing worse things to me? And what about when she inevitably walks out of my life? She’ll be gone, Hadrian’ll be gone, and I’ll be just as alone as I was that morning she left me the first time. I’ll be on my knees in the street again, sobbing in the dirt,” he told himself.

Again his fingers ripped through his hair while his heart continued racing. Thanks to his thoughts, he realized that he actually _gave_ Isabel the power that she had over him. He gave it to her by being her puppy, even though he knew how much she liked to kick him. He followed her around, rolled at her feet, barked when she commanded it, and returned after every kick with a happy, almost proud grin on his face. He gave her the power. So, for the pain to stop, he needed to take it away.

Tears welled up in Kane’s eyes as he realized what he needed to do, what it meant to take the power away from the woman he so readily worshipped. He needed to leave her. He needed to get away from her, far away from her. It was the only way to save himself, to keep her from killing him.

“I can’t, though …” he whispered to the calm night air. He could not just _leave_. This was his family. Then he suddenly shook his head. “This isn’t my family. Isabel is just letting me stick around to watch Hadrian, so she can keep working. Eventually, she’s going to toss me out on my ass and I’ll never see either of them again.”

The tears in his eyes began to fall as he thought about Isabel throwing him out of her life, out of Hadrian’s life. He could imagine what he might do if he was forced away from them. It would not be pretty and he really had no desire to hurt himself, but he knew things would come to that if she rejected him, if she disregarded him.

He took a deep breath and glanced over at the door that he was next to, which led to Hadrian’s room. He sighed as he stopped pacing and went into the bedroom. He did not bother to turn on the light, not wanting to disturb the baby’s rest. Going over to the crib, he looked down at the son he would have liked to raise, but doubted that privilege would ever be allotted to him.

“Hey, little guy. You know, no matter what happens, you’re still my little prince. Your mom is still my goddess too, so I want you to be good for her. So, when she comes to give you the bottle with some water in it, you be sure to drink it, even if it’s not coming out of one of those really nice jugs she’s got,” he remarked with a warm smile.

He reached down and brushed Hadrian head a little, pushing back his ebony hair. He leaned down and kissed the baby’s cheek. He lingered for a few long seconds, looking at the child with such longing that someone might have thought he was wishing for the moon. Once he was able to tear himself away from that scene, he collected his clothing from in the living room and quietly eased out of the apartment.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel yawned lightly as she stirred. She almost felt like purring as she realized what a good sleep she had. She could not recall ever feeling quite as well rested as she did now. In a haze, she allowed herself to give Kane credit for her current state.

Also, still in her mind-numbed state, she had no problem with reaching for Kane, seeking to snuggle into him again. The fog in her head cleared when she realized that all her hand was hit was her own cool sheet. Her eyes fell onto the empty space by her, the space that should have been filled by Kane.

“Kane …?” she muttered while looking around the room, but there was no sign of him.

She sat up, her onyx mane flowing behind her, tangled and some locks curled up toward the ceiling despite the fact that it was disobeying gravity. She scanned her whole room and still did not see any sign of her personal pest. She gathered the sheet that she was covered with and wrapped it around her body before getting out of bed.

“Kane?” she called out again as she exited the room.

She checked the bathroom, even though even with the door shut, she could tell no one was in there. Peeking her head into the bathroom only confirmed that it was empty. She was curious and confused for a moment, which showed on her face as her eyebrows curled up and her mouth scrunched up somewhat. She decided to check the baby’s room.

Hadrian’s door was open as always. She scanned in the room, but all she saw was her son sleeping peacefully. She moved to the outside of the apartment, her steps faster and more panicked than before. She looked around the living room and the kitchen to see that they were empty as well. Kane was nowhere to be found.

“Maybe he just stepped out …” Isabel muttered, but something inside of her certainly was not in agreement with that.

She knew just what happened – Kane left. He was gone and her heart quickly shattered, cracking like thin ice with too much weight on it. The pieces went out like glass, cutting everything inside of her, and seemed to be a trigger as tears welled up in her eyes. The flood poured out as it felt like her blood drained from her chest and pooled in her feet.

She surprised herself by dropping to her knees and sobbing loudly. She was not sure why she reacted in such a way, but she felt crushed and empty knowing that Kane had left, even though she knew a long time ago that he was going to leave her. She even suspected that he would leave her if she ever slept with him and he had gone and proved her right. Yet, the actuality hurt her so much it knocked her off of her feet and kept her down on the floor, weeping as if she had just been told she had twenty-four hours to live.

The sobs turned to coughs as she let out of her sorrow, her tears soaking into the carpet. Her breath came out in heavy heaves, as if she was going to throw up something heavy; something like all of her organs. Her grip on the sheet covering her tightened and her body shook. Her breath hitched in her chest a few times from the crying, causing spasms to erupt in her stomach. She tried her damnedest to order herself to stop weeping, but her body refused to listen.

“Why can’t I stop? I knew he was going to leave and I didn’t even like him, so why can’t I stop crying?” Isabel wondered aloud as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders in the hope of at least getting her body to stop shaking. She could not even cease the trembling because her arms were quivering as badly as the rest of her.

Her breath began to come out as a wheeze as she kept crying. She could not even remember the last time she seriously cried and she was embarrassed by it, but even that did not stop her. She could not move until she heard Hadrian crying.

Maternal instincts took over Isabel and she was able to climb to her feet to tend to her son. She wiped her eyes with the back of one hand while the other held the bed sheet to her. She entered Hadrian’s room and collected him in her arms.

“You sound how I feel,” Isabel commented with a forced, sorrowful smile on her face.

Hadrian blinked as he dried his tears now that his mother was there. He looked bewildered, as if he could tell his mother had been crying; her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were stained from her tears. He reached up, like he was going to wipe her face, but his arms were not long enough, so he settled for touching the top of her breast.

“Well, Hadrian, it’s just you and me now more than likely. We’ll be fine, though. I mean, Kane was an idiot pervert and we were just some game to him anyway. We’re better off without him,” she said soundly with a firm nod.

 _Yes, we are completely and totally better off without Kane_ , she tried to convince herself. _Why should I want to be around a boy that was just using me and trying to get on my good side just to sleep with me?_ Well, he had gotten just what he wanted and done just what she expected. _I should be glad to be rid of that little idiot. Who would want to be around that sort of moron? Who would want that sort of example around her son?_

“Yeah, so we’re way better off without him,” Isabel promised her child, even though the new tears falling from her eyes like a light rain told another story. “We’re better off …” she said again, forcing a sob from escaping her throat.

Hadrian only stared at his mother, almost as if he had no clue what to make of the situation. His deep blue eyes were confused and wide, like he was seriously shocked by what he was seeing. He then blinked and looked around, almost as if he was expecting something to happen; it was almost like he thought Kane would come in and fix his mother. Kane never showed up, though.

After a couple of minutes of silent crying, Isabel appeared to be back to her old self. She fed Hadrian, put him back in his crib, where he played with his toys and she went to clean herself off. She wanted to take a long shower, hoping to wash away the exhaustion that had conquered her body so easily after the best sleep of her life, but she did not even have that privilege.

While in the shower, Isabel had to lean against the wall, not trusting her legs to fully support her at the moment. She hugged herself, arms folded across her well-toned stomach. Her head was bowed and she could have possibly been crying again, but the spray from the showerhead masked any tears. She told herself that the moisture on her face was from the shower.

“What the hell? What do I care that he’s gone? I’m happy he finally left. I really am,” she tried to convince herself, hoping to get herself to stop what she considered distasteful behavior. “This is making it seem like I enjoyed being used by that damned pervert.”

Isabel shook that thought away. _I hate Kane! I hate everything about him! I hate the fact that he stuck around here and used me and Hadrian to play house because he doesn’t have anything better to with his fucking time!_ _He’s a fucking despicable person for playing such a game. I fucking hate him so much!_

She did not consider that she had played a game with him, used him, or anything of the like. She figured that she had done the smart thing and had him do things while he was around to do them. It was as simple as that, in her opinion.

“Little bastard,” she hissed into the steaming hot water. She tried to convince herself that she said those words because he used her, not because she was upset that he was gone. “I don’t give a damn that he’s gone.”

She tried to stop thinking about it all, knowing that it would only lead to her repeating things in her mind over and over again. Instead, she tried to push Kane out of her mind and move on with her life. She got out of the shower and went to take care of her baby.

The day went by oddly. Isabel just was too used to having Kane around and mentally did not accept that he was gone. She made breakfast for two, as if he was there. Maybe she hoped that he would come through the door and explain why he left that morning, but that did not happen. The extra food just went cold and eventually was thrown into the trash.

She had trouble with Hadrian when she tried to get him to drink his small, baby bottle of water; her mother had told her to give the baby water every now and then, even though Hadrian’s diet was just breast milk. He refused to take a bottle from her and that did not change just because Kane was not there. Hadrian ended up crying when his mother did not stop trying to put the bottle of water in his mouth.

“Come on, little prince. Don’t cry. You need water,” Isabel said in a gentle tone while trying to get him to take the bottle.

Hadrian had no problem with getting water, as long as Isabel was not the one trying to give it to him. He kept him mouth closed as if it was wielded shut, yet managed to continue weeping while she attempted to force the bottle on him. He pushed the offensive object away whenever she pushed it toward him.

“Look, Hadrian, you need water and Kane’s not here to give it to you. You may fight all you like, but you’re going to have this water,” Isabel vowed.

Hadrian looked quite skeptical to say the least. The baby learned something after almost ten minutes of fighting: his mother did not give up. He ended up with that bottle in his mouth and getting the water that he needed. Isabel breathed a sigh of relief, glad that struggle was over. It was not going to be the last time that happened, though.

Isabel had other things to stress over now that Kane was gone. She did not have a babysitter for Hadrian and her work schedule was crazy. She had signed on for a few projects, thinking that Kane would be there to watch the baby. How wrong she was and she knew how unprofessional it would look for her to back out of so many things. She was not sure what she was going to do about that. If worst came to worse, she was going to have to swallow her pride and beg her mother, but she had other people to ask before daring to crawl to Isabella.

“Vic, do you think you could watch Hadrian for me tonight?” Isabel requested, speaking to her sister on the phone. She was rocking Hadrian in her arms, trying to get him to go to sleep, but he was making it a point to be fussy. She figured it might be revenge since she forced him to have that water earlier.

“Tonight? Hmm …” Victoria had to think on it. “I doubt it. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Dammit, Vic, the fuck are you doing that’s so important that you can’t watch your nephew?” the raven-haired sibling demanded to know.

“Better question, the fuck is Kane doing that’s so important that he can’t watch his son?” the younger sister countered.

Isabel was quiet for a while. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and willed down the urge to cry again. _Kane’s gone and that’s that_ , she told herself. _He’s nothing to cry over. He’s not worth it_.

“I need you to watch Hadrian for tonight. Simple as that,” Isabel stated soundly. Eventually, she knew that her little sister was going to find out Kane was gone and she could guess how that reaction would be. It was not something that she wanted to deal with right now.

Victoria sucked her teeth. “Well, you’re no fun. I’ll watch him, but you have to promise me to take me to your next big street fight, so I can make money, too.”

“Fine, but don’t blow me off so you can go have some fun with some guy when I do call you to go,” Isabel replied.

Victoria only laughed, knowing that she could not in good conscience make such a promise. She watched Hadrian for that night and afterwards Isabel had to hunt for a babysitter, one that kept odd hours preferably. She did not tell her mother and sister that Kane was gone. She was not sure if it was because she secretly hoped that he would be coming back or because she did not want to tell with them telling her how she drove him away. Whatever the reason, she just did not feel like dealing with her family over an idiot like Kane.

With the task of finding someone to watch Hadrian out of the way, Isabel went about keeping her schedule. She felt like everything would be fine in her life. Damn the fact that Kane left, she told herself. He was just a little idiot, after all. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the world continues to come down around Isabel.


	6. Crumble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian; he’s Disney’s character. I do own Kane, Isabel, and her family.

5: Crumble 

“Isabel, what’s going on?” Isabella asked her eldest as the younger woman entered the house. She was holding Hadrian in her arms and had his baby bag with her. She appeared to be normal, but it was almost too normal in her mother’s opinion; too normal for the strangeness that Isabella believed was going on anyway.

“What do you mean? You said you’d watch Hadrian,” Isabel pointed out as she put the child down. He wasted no time trying to crawl away, despite the fact that he was bundled up in a jacket and other clothes to make sure that he did not get cold on the ride over to the house. The other thing that made his actions somewhat ridiculous was that he did not crawl very well, even without all of the clothes on.

“I know I said I’d watch Hadrian. I want to know what’s going on in general. This is the third time I’ve seen Hadrian this week. Not too long ago, I was lucky to see him once a week. So, what’s going on?” Isabella repeated with a craned eyebrow and her arms crossed against her stomach.

“Nothing’s going on,” Isabel replied, taking her time to put the baby bag down onto the sofa.

“Izzie, where the hell is Kane? Why the hell isn’t he watching his son?” Isabella inquired since her daughter was so interested in playing stupid. She was close to sounding impatient, but she caught her tone and kept her neutral voice and deadpan expression.

“Is this about watching the baby? If you don’t want to watch him, just say so. I thought you loved having your grandbaby around,” Isabel argued, which she knew was the stupid thing to do. It was either argue and dance around the situation or admit that Kane left her. Admitting that Kane left could result in a lot of things that she did not want to risk happening, like crying in front of her mother, making it the stupider thing to do out of her two options.

“It’s not about watching the baby. Tell me right now what happened with Kane,” Isabella commanded with steel underneath her usual tone that told her child that she better start talking or the things would get even more uncomfortable.

Isabel sighed and her shoulders fell without any orders from her brain. She did not look at her mother, opting to rummage through Hadrian’s bag. She pretended to be looking for something in the bag while she answered the question in a low voice.

“Kane left. He’s been gone for a couple of weeks now. I tried being nice to him, took things too far, and ended his little game. So, Kane left,” Isabel replied, her voice was low, but it was even, as if she was reporting on something that did not matter.

Isabella nodded, taking that information in. She knew there had to be more to the story than what Isabel was telling her, but she could not gather what it was. She did not see why Kane would leave when Isabel had finally started treating him better, unless he was truly insane. Now, he seemed a bit off, but not someone that enjoyed the endless abuse that Isabel heaped upon him. Most of the time, Isabella thought that Kane just seemed to silently cry out for Isabel to show him some kindness.

“Did he say why he was leaving or if he was coming back?” Isabella asked in her typical voice.

“He’s not coming back,” Isabel answered bluntly, nearly coldly, which was a tone that she never used when talking about Kane, no matter what was said. He was gone. He was done with playing house.

There was flash of something in Isabel’s eyes, but she shook it away. It was a good thing her mother could not see her face, she thought, as she continued to pretend looking for something in the baby bag. No, her mother could not see her face, but she could see the drop in Isabel’s shoulders and the slight tremble in her limbs. Her whole body seemed to be shaking, but Isabel failed to notice it.

Isabella took a deep breath, once again finding herself at a loss at what to do with her eldest child thanks to Kane. Right now, she was not even sure how to light a fire under Isabel’s ass to get her to do something. It was clear that Isabel was hurting over the fact that Kane was gone, but Isabella doubted that anything could take that pain away except Kane’s return or time. Still, she was not going to stand there and be at a loss for words.

“And yet you haven’t changed your schedule for two weeks,” Isabella pointed out plainly.

“I made these appointments over a month ago. Would you prefer I break the deals?” Isabel countered. She knew that her reputation could also affect her mother’s reputation. Her mother was well known by the people that Isabel worked for, so if she started breaking deals, they could easily blame her mother and the way that she was raised.

“You need to fix your schedule when you get the chance. I can’t watch Hadrian every night and you damn sure know your sister won’t watch him every night,” Isabella pointed out.

Isabel nodded because she could not argue with the facts. Her mother had things to do with her life, like she did. Her sister had people to do in her life, as that was her hobby, second only to martial arts in fact. She was going to have to find a babysitter that could and would stay out past midnight.

“So, how many of these damn appointments did you make before this little mishap happened?” Isabella inquired. She was actually careful not to say Kane’s name, feeling it would be best if he were forgotten just in case he really was not coming back. She would never purposely bring up something that pained her child.

“Um … Look at the time,” Isabel said quickly, glancing down at a watch that she was not wearing. She started making her way toward the front door, slipping her shoes back on in the process. “Must be going.”

“Izzie,” Isabella growled, but that did not get a response. Her daughter was now at the door, opening it. “Isabella,” saying her full name would surely stop her eldest, she thought.

“Can’t leave my cab waiting too long,” Isabel said.

“Isabella Han.”

“Bye, little prince. Be good for your grandmother.” The door shut and Isabel breathed a sigh of relief. She could only imagine how badly her mother would react to know she had already booked her whole year with work. What could she do? She was a hot item and she liked working.

Isabel did plan to find a babysitter for Hadrian. She did not like taking advantage of her mother or sister. She enjoyed being independent, but she also did not really like the idea of her child being around a stranger for hours on end. She sighed.

“Maybe one of the insane people I know will be willing to watch Hadrian for a little while. Surely someone likes children,” Isabel muttered to herself, her finger pressed to the side of her face in thought. She knew a long list of people; she figured by the law of chance, at least one had to like babies enough to watch Hadrian every now and then. 

-8-8-8-8-

“No, no, no. This cannot be happening! This cannot be happening!” Isabel shouted to the ceiling in her bathroom.

She was dressed in her short black robe and leaning against the bathroom door. The wood was cold enough to her that she felt the chill through her robe, stabbing her like a million tiny, sharpened pins. She had her head down and pulled at her long ebony hair in frustration, growling as she did so. _Fate could not possibly hate me this much_ , she commented in her own head. _It just can’t be possible!_

“I swear this can’t be happening!” Isabel banged her head on the door. The loud thud bounced off of the tiled, clean walls along with her shrieks.

She pulled on her hair a couple more times and then rubbed her face. She banged her head on the door a few more times too for good measure. She then slid slowly and pathetically to the floor. The cool tile teased her bare legs while her palms lay flat on the white tile to prop her up.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit, why me? What the fuck? Why me?” Isabel asked the air in a desperate tone as she cast her emerald eyes up to the object that offended her more than anything could right now.

The white piece of little plastic sat calmly on the sink counter. It peered back at her with an insolent eye, winking at her with a red band of an eyelid. It glared at her with the power of well-wielded sword, stabbing her in the heart, slaying her soul.

“I can’t be pregnant. I can’t be. I’ve only had sex once in over a fucking year!” Isabel wailed, pounding the floor with her fist. _How the hell could I get pregnant from having sex once in over a year?! What the hell!_

Isabel banged her head on the door again. _How the hell could I have been so damned stupid and careless! Why the hell did I sleep with Kane without using any damn protection?!_

The racing of her heart answered that one. She slept with Kane because she longed for that. She needed to be touched and not just anyone would do either. It had to be him. She needed to feel _him_.

“Why Kane? Why him?” Isabel muttered while shaking her head. “Kane …”

Tears welled up into her eyes as she thought about Kane. She leaned her head against the door and just let the tears roll down her flushed cheeks as they built up in her eyes. She silently wept for a few long minutes.

“I’m pregnant with Kane’s baby. Why? God, why?” she wondered while palming her face with her right hand. She continued to cry while pushing her hair back with her right hand after a moment.

 _What the hell am I going to do?_ She did not have any answers. She was pregnant again and Kane was gone. _Am I cursed?_

“Is this it? I hook up with a guy that’s a complete and total ass, end up pregnant by him, only to have him leave me? What the fuck is wrong with me? What am I going to do with another baby?”

Her throat seized up as she realized she would soon have another baby on her hands and Hadrian was still a baby himself. _What the hell am I going to do with two babies?!_ She was having trouble enough with trying to take care of Hadrian and continue with work. There was no way in hell she would be able to do with that a newborn baby and Hadrian being a toddler. It just would not work, especially since her babysitter made it clear that she only wanted to handle one child.

“It has to work, though. What the hell am I going to do with another baby, though? How am I going to make this work? How am I going to take care of two kids and keep working?” Isabel asked herself over and over again.

She had to keep working, of course. It was not like she and two babies would be able to live off of love and air. They needed money, so she had to work. She did not see how she would be able to maintain her job and properly care of two babies. It just did not seem like it would work.

She then got a rotten idea, in her opinion anyway. She could, of course, go to her mother for advice. Her mother had two children, after all, and raised them relatively on her own. Sure, she and her sister were three years apart, not to mention, she vaguely recalled her father being around for a while, so her mother did not start out completely on her own. Still, her mother was the only person that she trusted to give her advice on the situation.

“This is what things have come to? I have to ask that devil woman something? Fuck, God, why the hell do you hate me so much?!” Isabel screamed at the ceiling.

She could not even imagine how things would go if she went to talk to her mother. What would her mother think of her to know that she slept with Kane after all of that yelling about not liking him? She would look like a liar, and she was plenty of things, but a liar was not on the list … at least not when it came to people that mattered.

Worst off, how would she look coming to her mother confused about a pregnancy? Her mother would probably just tell her that she knew the consequences of going to bed with a man and she had to deal with them, just as she told her when Isabel was pregnant with Hadrian. She scoffed; her mother would probably state the obvious a bunch of times while making sure to make it as reprimanding as possible. Damn it.

“I can’t believe this bullshit. Everything is so fucked up. What the hell am I even going to say to Mommy? ‘Oh, before Kane ran off, we fucked well into the night and now I’m pregnant, can you help figure something out?’ And then she’ll hit with ‘they make condoms to prevent things like this.’ Or worse, ‘if you would just get on the pill, you won’t have to go through these little moral dilemmas.’ Oh, just go to Hell, Mommy!” Isabel screamed and then she realized what she was doing. “I’m cursing Mommy out for words I’m imagining for something that’s totally my goddamn fault. I am totally fucked.”

Isabel took a few more minutes to finish crying before picking herself up off the floor. She went to the sink to throw away her plastic tormentor and then she washed her face. She went to Hadrian’s room, just to make sure he was still sleeping considering all of the hollering she had just done. He was knocked out and she was the same as soon as she hit her bed; she was exhausted. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Here again? I wonder why,” Isabella commented from her space against the wall; she was leaning against the wall by the stairs in her living room. She watched like a calculating cat as her daughter entered the house with Hadrian and his things. Now, she was actually not sure why Isabel was at her house. She had not agreed to watch the baby and Victoria had already gone out to do God-only-knew-whatever-the-hell she did.

“I’m sure you won’t be able to guess,” Isabel replied as she put the baby bag down and then took Hadrian out of his jacket and things. Hadrian wasted no time trying to crawl away to go get into something. His mother and grandmother let him go.

“Yes, that makes me feel better,” Isabella said sarcastically.

“Mommy … I need advice …” Isabel admitted with a sigh. Her emerald eyes implored her mother for help.

Isabella could have been knocked over with a feather at that moment, not that anyone could tell by looking at her. She had never heard the words “I need advice” from either of her daughters. They tended to like making their own mistakes and learning from them. Isabel tended to learn faster and more often than Victoria, which made it even worse that she was the one asking for advice.

“Why ask for my advice? Whenever I freely offer it, you ignore it,” Isabella managed to remark.

Isabel deadpanned. “You freely offer it when no one asks for it.”

“No one in this house ever asks for it, which is your first mistake. I offer it when I know I’m right and you silly girls don’t want to listen. Now, what’s this situation you need advice on?” the elder woman inquired, not bothering to move from where she was, which kept her several feet from her daughter.

Isabel took a deep breath and rubbed the back of her head nervously for a very brief moment. “Um … remember how I told you that Kane left after I started treating him better?” she asked, figuring that would be a good way to lead into things.

“Yes.”

“Well, I didn’t exactly tell you how much better.”

“Dear god, Izzie, you slept with him again, didn’t you?” Isabella guessed, trying her best to keep her legendary composure. _What the hell is up with my daughters and their sexual habits?! One sleeps with anything that moves and the other sleeps with weirdo jackasses that she has nothing in common with and apparently abandon her!_

“Short answer, yes,” Isabel replied, not that she was sure what the long answer was.

Blue eyes rolled. “What the hell possessed you to sleep with him again?”

Isabel sighed; apparently, her mother wanted the long answer. She said the first obvious thing that came to mind. “Um … he was there, he was hot, and I hadn’t had sex in over a year,” she answered bluntly.

“The reasons actually make it sound stupider. Bravo,” Isabella quipped, actually applauding for a couple of seconds.

“You’re not helping, Mommy,” Isabel pointed out with a frown. 

“I never said I would,” the mother retorted honestly. Not that she understood where her help was required in the situation so far.

“Okay, before you piss me off anymore, let me cut to the meat of the matter. I’m …” Isabel paused. For the first time in her life, she could not just be as candid as she wanted with her mother. She was usually able to tell her mother anything as causally as humanly possible, but not now.

“You’re?” Isabella echoed, craning an eyebrow. She hated to think where this was going now. _What, not only is my eldest the one with strange taste, but also the fertile one out of the pair? Oh, how fate must hate my little Isabel_ , she thought.

“You know …” Isabel said through gritted teeth while making circular motions with her right hand as if that would help. _Dammit!_ _I can’t fucking say it! Why can’t I said it? What was the big deal?_ She was able to say it when she was carrying Hadrian, so why could she not say it now? It should have been harder with Hadrian. After all, she did not even know who his father was until he was born. There were no mysteries with her new … predicament.

“I know?” Again, blue eyes rolled and Isabella scoffed lightly. “I can only speculate until you plainly tell me this problem.”

“Goddamn it, Mommy. I’m…” she trailed off and then growled the final word. “Pregnant.”

Isabella nodded a bit. So, Isabel _was_ the fertile one. _The fertile one that doesn’t seem to believe in condoms, the pill, or some other form of contraception_. She was about to point that out, but it seemed like Isabel caught onto the familiar glint in her mother’s eye.

“Don’t tell me something obvious, like ‘you know this wouldn’t happen if you had him wrap it up.’ It was spontaneous. We weren’t thinking that far ahead,” Isabel stated.

“Obviously you weren’t thinking this far ahead either. Now, what’s the problem? I know it’s not that you’re pregnant,” Isabella replied. After all, she knew that her eldest had no problem taking responsibility for such things considering her attitude with Hadrian. 

Isabel was quiet for a moment. She looked off, checking on Hadrian. The baby was stuck trying to climb up the stairs, but he could not find his way past the first step. He was content to be stuck, though; he was probably overjoyed to have made it to the freaking stairs considering how poorly he crawled. Isabel turned her attention back to her own mother.

“Mommy, I can’t take care of another baby. I mean, Hadrian’s a handful. How did you do it? How did you raise me and Vic by yourself?” Isabel asked in a quiet tone. Her emerald eyes were slightly wide, as if she was lost. Her hands were thrown out slightly to her sides.

Isabella sighed and shook her head. “I wasn’t by myself, Izzie. Your father was here until you were five and Vic was two. I had him.”

“But, not forever.”

“I had him through the part you’re worried about. You don’t think you can take care of two babies on your own. I didn’t have to take care of two babies by myself. I had your father,” Isabella stated plainly.

Isabel arched an ebony eyebrow. _Is Mommy trying to tell me to go get Kane back? Fat chance_ , she thought. He played his game and he had his fun. He used her and her son like toys and discarded them in the same manner. He was not coming back and even if he did, she would not let him back into her life just so he could … hurt her again. She groaned internally as she realized that her brain and body just admitted to being hurt by Kane. Kane had the power to hurt her. _I won’t give a chance to use that power against me again! Never again!_

“Izzie … Kane deserves to know,” Isabella said. The response that she was going to get would surprise her.

“No! I’m not telling him! I don’t want to be anywhere near him! I won’t give him a chance to leave this baby like he left Hadrian!” the younger woman objected passionately while wrapping her arms around herself. She could not tell him. She could not risk being hurt again. She could not let him back into her if he had a power over her.

The conversation was coming very close to shattering Isabella’s almost legendary composure. _Since when do my damn daughters seriously freak out about anything like Isabel’s fucking doing?_ She took a deep breath, making sure to stay calm and not let annoyance creep into her since Isabel wanted to be difficult about things.

“Well, you don’t want to tell him, you don’t think you can raise two babies by yourself, and your sister and I have lives that will continue and won’t be able to watch these kids for you every single day. What’re your suggestions?” Isabella inquired dully, as if she was bored with the matter.

“I… I …” Isabel’s throat went dry for a moment. “I don’t know …” she confessed in a low tone. _That’s why I came here for damn advice in the first place!_

“Well, I do know. You’re going to get worked up, like you eventually did with Hadrian. You’re going to contemplate your other options, but in the end, you’ll have the baby, but the question is: what will you do after that? You’ll try to raise two little babies in your little apartment. You’ll consider asking us for help, but be stubborn about things to prove you can do this and then you’ll simply go out of your mind while you children turn into brats,” Isabella explained with a shrug and a wave of her hand, as if that was the easiest answer that she would ever give.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Isabel said sarcastically while shooting her mother a glare that would have slain a lesser soul; her mother did not even blink. “I’ll get along just fine, thank you!” she added.

Isabella rolled her eyes. “Maybe I should just adopt Hadrian. That way you’ll only have to worry about one baby. You always did want a brother.”

“Just shut up, Mommy!” Isabel huffed. _What the hell is wrong with me coming to my goddamn mother for advice?_ _I knew this would be a goddamn disaster!_ _My mother is only the most useless woman on the goddamn planet!_

Isabel quickly gathered up her son and his things to leave. Isabella merely watched, making sure to look slightly cross with the entire scene. Once Isabel was out of the house, the older woman chuckled a bit.

“They make it too easy sometimes,” Isabella muttered. It was easy to motivate her daughters into doing something; all she had to do was thoroughly piss them off or imply that they could not do something. They would be off to prove her wrong in record time, not knowing they were playing right into her hands every single time. 

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel stared at her phone in the living room. Hadrian was finally sleeping after making sure to throw his dinner all around the kitchen. After she cleaned the kitchen of strained peas and carrots, she sat down on the couch, thinking that she might watch some television. Instead, she caught sight of her phone and was just staring at it now as if it held the meaning of life.

Of course, she was thinking about the last person that she wanted to think about: Kane. _Should I call him? Should I tell him?_ The baby was his as much as it was hers and from his behavior with Hadrian, she considered that he might actually be happy to have a baby that was his own flesh and blood. But, then again, her brain countered that by pointing out that Kane was just playing a game when he was there with Hadrian. _I won’t let him play with another baby or Hadrian_. _I can’t_.

She wanted to argue that now was different, but she did not even want to admit that to herself. Kane had claimed Hadrian as his son, so things should not be different. _If Kane could walk out on Hadrian, then what is the fucking point in assuming that he’d give a damn about the new baby?_

“So, what am I going to do? Sit here, not call him, then do what Mommy said? Start thinking about other options? Well, to hell with that! I could … I could take care of two babies … right?” Isabel silently asked herself while putting her hand on her stomach.

 _I can take care of two babies_ , she mentally insisted. She would have to break a lot of appointments and stop working for a while, but she could do it. _I can!_ She had a lot of money saved up. Surely she and two other people would be able to get by for a while on her savings, right? _Right? Right?!_

She had to do it because there was no way that she was going to call Kane. He could live his life and she could live hers. Everything would be better that way.

The emerald gaze remained locked on the phone despite her thoughts. Her hand reached out for the phone despite her thoughts. She began to dial before she even knew what she was doing. It was not until the receiver was at her ear and was ringing did she realize what she had just done. She did not hang up when her senses finally returned to her, though.

The ringing lasted a while, but eventually the phone was answered. “Hey,” came a familiar voice that made her heart jump in her chest.

Isabel was at a loss for words for a couple of seconds. “Kane?”

“Bella!” It was clear from the sound of his voice that he was grinning, but he strangely sounded out of breath, too. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?” he asked in quite the lighthearted tone. He sounded so happy.

 _How the hell can he sound so happy_ , she silently demanded to know. _He walked out on me and Hadrian and then had the nerve to be happy!_ _The bastard!_

Isabel swallowed down all of the anger that she was suddenly feeling, wanting to at least have a civil conversation with him. “Kane, we need to talk,” she informed him, some tension creeping into her voice.

Well, nothing good ever started with those words, so Kane wondered if there would be other phrases headed his way that never signaled something good. “Should I sit down for this, too?” he asked curiously.

“I don’t care,” she replied harsher than she meant to.

Kane was silent for a moment. “Okay.” One word never sounded so confused until that moment.

“Look, Kane—” Isabel started, but she was silenced when she heard a voice in the background of the phone. There was a feminine voice calling for Kane.

“Hey, hold on, I’m on the phone!” Kane shouted in a friendly manner to whoever was calling him. He sounded quite playful calling to the person, like there was a little laugh in his tone.

The female voice got closer and started speaking Italian. Isabel was lost to the conversation because she did not speak that language. Kane responded to female voice, speaking Italian, too. The female on the other end giggled and suddenly Kane started laughing.

“Hey, cut it out!” Kane complained, but he was chuckling hard. It took him almost a minute to come back to the phone and found the line had gone dead. “Bella? Bella?” There was no answer. He tried calling back, but the phone only rang and rang. He sighed; _what the hell is going on?_

Isabel stared at her phone as if it had wronged her and the ringing sound from it offended her. She dropped her head into her hands and began to cry again. She was certain that she was alone now and she did not know what she was going to do. It barely took five minutes before her mind reminded her that there were other options. 

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: Will Isabel consider the other options? Kane’s response to the strange call and a long talk between Kane and Isabel.


	7. Spoken word

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian; he’s Disney’s character. I do own Kane, Isabel, and her family.

6: Spoken word 

A loud knocking on the door got Isabel out of bed early in the morning. She rubbed her forehead, trying to rid of herself of a headache that had been stabbing her violently for a day now. She was planning a bloody, bloody death for the ignorant bastard pounding on her door as if the moron did not have any sense at all. She was so out of it that she did not bother to look through the peephole; she just opened the door with the intent to murder whoever stood before her. She got the shock of her day, which hit twice as hard since she was so exhausted. It knocked her homicidal rage right out of her.

“Ka… Kane …” Isabel muttered through trembling teeth with wide, disbelieving emerald eyes. Her heart pounded exceptionally loud in her chest while her headache throbbed a bit from the surprise.

Kane stood in the doorway, hand posed to knock again. He looked as disheveled as always, but somehow even more so. His wild auburn hair was barely in the rubber band that he used to keep it in a ponytail and his hair was going every way that it could; it was also going some ways that had to be against some law of physics. His clothing was wrinkled, which was something new; sure, he wore clothing that kind of made him look like a hobo, but he was never so sloppy about it. His attire also hung off him awkwardly, his collar almost ripped and revealing part of his shoulder, and the shirt was on backwards. His eyes did not look vibrant and fresh, but tired and worried with lines etched underneath them and dark circles around them.

“Bella, is everything okay?” he asked in a frantic tone, his head moving forward, shaking his hair like leaves in a heavy wind. “Hadrian? Is he okay? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” he demanded in a panicked tone, talking too quickly to give her a chance to break in at first.

Isabel blinked hard a couple of times before responding. “Everything’s fine.”

“Hadrian’s fine?” he asked in a desperate tone to be sure. His eyes begged to know that the baby was all right.

“Yes, in fact, he’s sleeping.”

“And you? You’re fine? Nothing happened? You didn’t get into a car accident or something? Dammit, I knew I should’ve taught you how to drive! Why the hell didn’t I teach you how to drive?” Kane would have rambled on and on, but she stopped him … for a moment anyway.

“Kane, calm down!” Isabel grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him slightly.

“Oh, god, I shouldn’t have left!” A look washed over him as if he was about to burst into tears.

Isabel decided to drag him into her apartment, knowing that some of her nosier neighbors were getting a free show, complete with her in a skimpy robe. She shut the door with care, not wishing to wake Hadrian. She then turned her attention to Kane.

She had to take a moment to stare at him, eyebrow arched and mouth slightly open. _What the hell is he doing there?_ She had just been on the phone with him not even two days ago where she was sure he was entertaining some Italian girl and now he was in her apartment. _What’s going on? Could I actually be dreaming?_

“Bella, are you sure you’re all right?” he pressed, his eyes still imploring her for confirmation. “Is Hadrian okay? Oh, god, I’ll never forgive myself if something’s wrong with you! What hell is wrong with me? Why the hell did I leave?” Kane began hitting himself in the forehead with the heel of his hand. _How could I be so fucking stupid to just leave_ , he scolded himself. _What the hell is wrong with me?!_

Isabel acted without thinking, doing the best thing to calm him down. She went to him and embraced him. He immediately halted his actions and words. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that he was in her warm embrace. Once he reveled in the moment for a few seconds, he returned the gesture, hugging her back.

Isabel’s lip trembled as she felt his thick arms around her waist. A warm feeling coursed through her as she felt him press against her and her heart felt like it might melt. She broke down against him, sobbing into his shoulder. He was speechless by her behavior.

“Oh, god, Kane! I’m so sorry!” she bawled.

Kane acted automatically, gently rubbing her back, hoping to calm her down. He was not sure what was going on, but her crying certainly was not easing his worry like her warm, almost loving hug had been mere seconds ago. _Something has got to be seriously wrong_.

“Bella, are you okay? Is Hadrian okay?” he asked again, voice lower, but just as desperate as before. They were really the only two people that he had in the world and he needed to know that they were fine.

“Kane, why are you even here?” she countered, trying her best to dry her tears. _Why am I crying yet again_? She could hear her frustration in her own head. She did not have any answers, except the obvious one: she missed the little idiot. The answer did not stop the tears from falling down her eyes, but the flow did slow a bit.

“You call me, but we got disconnected before you could say why you called. I got worried, so I came over as fast as I could,” he explained briefly.

“You rushed over here because of one phone call?” she asked in sheer disbelief. _One phone call and he came from half way around the world to see me?_ It could not be real. _He can’t be real_.

Kane looked away momentarily, as if he was shamed of his actions. He considered that he might have gone overboard, but he really did not care. “Well … yeah. I thought you or Hadrian might be hurt …”

Isabel could not believe her ears. She had been a total bitch toward him for most of his stay and she made one phone call to him, hanging up on him in the process, and he rushed over to see if she and her son were all right. She felt worse than she had a minute ago when she first started crying, so she bawled harder now. Her tears practically streamed down her eyes like twin rivers.

“I’m really sorry!” she apologized now. The things that she thought after that phone call, she recalled. God, he would probably try to kill her if he knew just what she was thinking and with the way she felt right now, she might let him.

“It’s okay, Bella. It’s okay. Just tell me, you’re okay, right?” he asked and she nodded. “And the little prince is okay, right?”

When Isabel nodded again, Kane breathed a sign of relief. His heart finally stopped beating a mile-a-minute and feeling like it might explode. His stomach finally felt like it might be able to accept food again.

“Then that’s all that matters,” Kane told her in a whisper, gently caressing her back with the hope that it would get her to calm down.

“No. No, it’s not,” Isabel replied, still crying. She pulled away enough to look at him.

“For now, it is, Bella,” he promised her while reaching up to wipe away her tears. She pressed her cheek into his caring fingers. He wanted to smile, but it was not the time.

Isabel felt so weakened by his presence alone and his touch was almost enough to knock her off her feet. She could not believe the wave of relief that washed over her just because he was there. She had to tell him, which upset her because she was certain that it would just drive him away again.

“Kane …” Isabel said, voice in such shambles that it was difficult to get his mere name out of her mouth.

“Yes?” he replied curiously.

“Um … you might want to sit down for this.”

 _Oh, boy_ , he thought; _nothing good ever starts with that phrase_. But, then again, whenever that phrase was used, it tended to be good advice. So, he made his way to the couch, making sure to keep a hold on her. He sat down and she joined him, wishing to remain close to him, but deciding against it. She sat down almost a foot away from him, which he thought was rather strange, especially since they had just been hugging. Her actions added to his anxiety and his heart was back to beating like it was ready to explode.

She did not want him to push her away after she told him what was up. She doubted that she could take the physical rejection, especially considering how good his embrace just felt. She dried her tears completely and took a few calming breaths before she started talking. She was a little amazed that it hardly took ten seconds to stop such a thorough cry.

“Kane, when I called you, I had something very important that I wanted to tell you,” Isabel started and then she noticed that he was about to talk. She put her hand up to shut him up. “Yes, I’m fine and Hadrian’s fine,” she informed him with a sigh, which got a nod out of him.

“That’s good. That’s good,” he said with a smile. “So, what was so important that you didn’t pick up when I called back? Or at least call me back after we got disconnected?”

Isabel sucked her teeth and rolled her eyes, more amused than anything else. _He’s such a little idiot_ , she thought. He did not even know that she hung up on him. It did not even seem to cross his mind that she might have hung up on him.

“Kane, I hung up you because it sounded like you were busy with your lady friend,” she told him, allowing some bitterness to sneak into her tone there. Her eyes flashed heatedly briefly and a frown graced her lips for a millisecond or so.

He scratched the side of his head. “Lady friend? Oh, you mean Rosette? Well, she’s a friend … I don’t know about the lady part,” he remarked, amusing himself enough to get a chuckle out of himself.

“And who is Rosette?” she asked, trying to control a growl, but some of it clawed its way out.

“A painter friend of mine. She was looking through the art in my house when you called me. She’s been trying to get inspired,” he explained with a shrug. It seemed that Isabel’s anger was going right by him or he was very good at ignoring it by now.

“Inspired how?” she pressed.

“Um … you’ve seen my house, Bella. There’s a lot of art and stuff around the place. She looks at art to get inspired.”

“Why go to your house? Why not a museum?”

“Because I’d like company every now and then,” he answered while wondering how her confession turned into his interrogation.

Isabel was quiet momentarily because she had not been expecting that answer, nor was she expecting an answer that quickly. It made sense that Kane wanted company; he was in that big house by himself. Still, she did not like the idea of him being in that house alone with some artist girl.

“Wait, you hung up on me because you heard me and Rosette?” A near-demonic smile curled onto Kane’s face while a light bulb went on in his head. “You’re jealous, aren’t you, Bella?”

Isabel snorted most indignantly and she folded her arms across her chest as she turned her nose up. “Like hell I am! What do I care what some bimbo does with an idiot like you!”

Kane laughed and smiled his usual smile; she was _so_ jealous. He was going to take the chance to tease her, especially since she seemed to be back to normal, but he really wanted to get to know why she called him in the first place. Maybe there would be time for teasing later on, or so he hoped.

“I guess you make it a point, Bella. So, why did you call anyway?” he asked curiously, taking things back to the main topic.

The question brought Isabel back to her somber state. She looked away and took a deep breath to compose herself. She reminded herself who she was: Isabel Han, the second deadliest woman on Earth (her mother had to be the first by default considering how she still folded to the woman at times). She could and would tell him what happened just as plainly as she would say anything else … or so she hoped.

“Kane, I called you to tell you I was pregnant,” she stated, sounding surprisingly strong, but unmistakably forced. It was like that was not even her voice. She was surprised that she did not gag or choke after speaking from the way her voice came out.

“Pregnant?” he echoed. His brain had to play catch up, which she expected. Okay, she was pregnant … and she was telling him. So, it probably had something to do with him. “You’re carrying my baby!” He grinned, not a surprise there.

The surprise came when Kane leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Isabel’s waist. He laughed and snuggled his face into her tummy. She got the urge to hit him, but she was also put at peace thanks to his wanting touch. She almost smiled when she felt his nose cruising over her bellybutton.

“Hey, little one! Daddy’s out here now!” Kane practically cheered.

Isabel wished that she could leave things at that. Hell, usually, she would have left things at that. Right now, though, she needed to be totally honest with him. She was not sure why she felt the urge to be completely open with him, especially when she was scared that would drive him away, but she knew that she just had to do it. He deserved that much.

She reached down and ran her fingers through his unruly mane. “I’m not done yet, Kane.”

“Not done, yet?” he echoed as if he did not understand. _What more could there possibly be to tell? We’re having yet another baby!_

“I got very scared of the thought of being alone with two babies.”

“You got scared, Bella?” he asked in disbelief. She might as well have told him that the moon was made of cheese from the look on his face.

Isabel smiled a bit; it was flattering that he thought she was so strong. She liked to think that she was strong, dangerous, but sometimes the unknown was too much and everything seemed so overwhelming. So, yes, even she was weak and scared sometimes. She caressed his scalp a bit, seemingly drawing the strength to go on.

“I didn’t know what I would do with two babies. I mean, you mostly took care of Hadrian,” she admitted.

“What? I took care of him at night. During the day, we were a team,” he pointed out. Yes, he had Hadrian when she worked, which was not even every day of the week, and he did it at night when the baby mostly slept.

“Either way, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I felt so panicky …”

“Bella, you should’ve just called me when you found out. I would’ve come right back,” he stated soundly.

“I see that now, but I didn’t know it then. I mean, I don’t even know why you left,” she reminded him. She never would have guessed that he would come back like he did. She imagined he would have found a way to get back to her faster if she told him that she was pregnant. After all, he was over in a flash just because she hung up the phone on him.

Kane nodded. “I’ll tell you why I left as soon as you’re finished telling me about this.”

“Fair trade, I suppose.” She paused to take a deep breath. “I actually thought about other options.”

“Like adoption?” he asked with a craned eyebrow. He did not see what was so bad about that.

She laughed a bit; it was a hollow sound. “The other option.”

Kane was silent for a moment, making sure to keep his face hidden in her toned stomach. It was his turn to take a deep breath. He then braved looking up at her. She met his gaze.

“Just thought about, right?” he inquired, seriousness cutting through his usual happy tone.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Well then, that’s fine. As long as there’s still somebody in here,” he commented, poking her in the stomach, close to her bellybutton.

“Yes, there’s still somebody in there.”

“Then it’s more than fine!” he grinned.

“How can you say that?” she asked quietly, still caressing his head.

“I understand you were scared. I mean, I just left and you’re on your own. I know how you hate asking your mom for help and Vic is a party girl, so she wouldn’t have too much time to help you, not that you would ask her either. You’re an independent girl, Bella. Not to mention, you care about Hadrian. You want to be able to take care of him and you want to be able to keep doing what you’re doing.”

Isabel was speechless for a moment. _Why the hell is he being so understanding?_ _How can he be so understanding?_ _Why he’s being so sweet?_ And then she remembered, he was always like that. She continued on rubbing his head.

“So … why did you leave?” she inquired, still speaking quietly. She was ready to admit that it was probably her fault that he left. She had done something to him, but she was not totally sure what yet.

Kane thought about what he was going to say for a few seconds. He was about to tell her that he left for the same reason that she hung up on him; they both seemed to have the power to hurt each other. But, he did not want to jump right into assuming that he did have that power.

“To be honest, I didn’t wanna get hurt again,” he confessed. Once he said it out loud, he realized that it sounded kind of girly, but he really did not care. “I thought that eventually you were gonna get sick and tired of me. I mean, I know I’m annoying. Sometimes it’s by design, but mostly that’s just the way I am. I thought about how it would feel when you finally did get rid of me. How it would feel to be away from you, away from Hadrian, and forced out by you …”

An elegant ebony eyebrow arched. “So, instead, you force yourself away from us?”

“I know it sounds stupid and I know you’re probably calling me an idiot right now in your head—” he was cut off from finishing that line.

“No, I’m calling you an idiot out loud and to your face, idiot.” Despite her words, she sounded completely normal for the first time that night and she did continue rubbing his head. He smiled a little.

She was a bit surprised to know that Kane worried about being thrown out when she was actually going to let him stay around for as long as he wanted … well, that was the plan anyway. She supposed that one day, she could have gotten sick of him, but she would not have taken Hadrian from him. He thought of Hadrian as his son, so that would have just been cruel.

“I’m sorry, Bella, but that was how I felt. I knew I would’ve just died on the inside if you did that. So, I wanted to save myself in someway,” he continued on.

“Did it work?” _Is he happier away from my and the baby?_

Kane chuckled; it sounded so empty and almost bitter. “Of course it didn’t work. It was like Hell on Earth. I was in the big fucking house by myself. I didn’t know what was going on with you or with Hadrian. I was scared all the time, thinking something might happen to you or him and I was too far away to do anything about it. I couldn’t sleep and I could barely eat anything. You should’ve seen how Rosette looked at me when she showed up at the house. She thought I was sick and I mean really sick, not the flu, but like a disease. She was actually the first person I saw since I left here that wasn’t carrying a takeout box.”

Isabel was going to point out that he still looked a rather sickly, but she left that alone. “Why didn’t you just come back if you felt like that? If it hurt anyway?”

“Because I thought it would hurt so much more when you left me and took Hadrian with you?” Saying it out loud seemed almost silly to him considering the fact that he seemed to think that he was damned if he did and damned if he did not.

“Kane, where the hell am I going to go? I’ve been in this apartment for just a year and I’ve got a baby to take care of, so where the hell am I going?”

He shook his head, rubbing his face into her stomach. “I don’t know. It’s just I kept thinking you’d leave. I didn’t think far enough to where you’d go or what you’d do when you got there. Maybe you’d throw me out or something. I dunno.”

Isabel sighed and shook her head. It was quiet for a moment before Isabel could ask the next question. “Why would you leave after … after …” The words “making love to me” really wanted to come out of her mouth, but she refused them the chance. Instead she said, “After sleeping with me?”

“Oh … that …” His voice was thick with shame and his eyes got lost on the floor briefly. He should have known that was bad form, even if Isabel had done it before.

Silence reigned over the apartment again for several long seconds. It really turned out to be a mistake to leave after that night, Kane thought. From then on, naughty thoughts were on his mind half the time that he was thinking of Isabel for about two weeks. The only reason they started to diminish was because he feared that he only lusted after Isabel and saw her as a sexual fantasy. He wanted to believe that she meant so much more to him than that, even though he did not know how much she meant to him.

“I left after that because … well … I thought it was going to be the time for you to give me the boot. I thought about our first time and how you left me that morning. God, it felt like you ripped my heart out of my chest, making sure to take any and everything connected to it with it. That was the pain I didn’t wanna feel again, so I thought I had to get away before it happened. Sounds stupid, I know,” he explained.

“Very stupid,” she concurred. Although on the inside, she took some of the blame. She should have told him goodbye that first time, but he looked so peaceful, sleeping with his goofy smile plastered on his face and a line of drool coming out of his mouth. She thought it would be better to just let him sleep and she did have things to do anyway. She did not want to risk waking him and they end up going at it again.

“That’s why I left, though.”

“Yet you hurry back to me, the person who can cause you so much pain, from one phone call where I hung up on you?” Her face seemed baffled. It did not make any sense to her.

“What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment,” he remarked and that might have been the truth, but there was more to it. “I was worried about you.”

Her heart softened a little and part of her dared to feel flattered by that admission. Still, she wanted to pick his brain and get to the bottom of why he behaved as he did with her. “Why worry about me, Kane? Why go through all this trouble for me?”

He thought that was obvious. “I promised I’d be there for you.”

“But, why’d you make that promise?”

Kane smiled and hugged Isabel tighter, drawing his face closer to her body. He rubbed his nose in her stomach again, nuzzling her navel. She looked down at him, unsure of what the actions meant. She brought her free hand up to rest of his back.

“Why’d you give me that opening?” he countered. _Why did you give me the hope that Hadrian was mine in the first place?_ She could have easily banished him from her life by letting him leave her mother’s house in that dejected state he was in after the first time she told him that he was not the father when he first found out that she was pregnant.

Isabel decided not to answer that one out loud, but she did think about it. She gave him that opening because she did not like seeing him in that depressed state. He was not supposed to be sorrowful in her opinion and she especially did not like that she had been the one that put him in that state. She was not sure why she disliked depressing him, but she knew that she did.

“So, what now?” Isabel wondered aloud.

“What do you mean? We have a baby is what!” he cheered.

“Well, aside from that, idiot,” she said. The word “idiot” was starting to sound more and more like a term of endearment coming from her.

“Oh, well, I guess that’s up to you, Bella. I’ll here for you, like always,” he vowed.

“No more running away?” she inquired with a stern look on her face and a craned eyebrow.

“I won’t run away. I hate to break it to you, Bella, but you are actually stuck with me for life now. I mean, we’ve got two kids now and there’s no way in hell you could handle both of them on your own.”

Isabel feigned being insulted. “I could do it without an idiot like you. You’d probably just make it more difficult since you’d be like having a third kid,” she declared.

“I’m sure you could, Bella. I’m sure you could.”

Isabel looked down at him with surprise evident in her emerald eyes. Kane did not seem to notice, his face still against her abdomen. His breathing was starting to change, getting more even and relaxed. He was falling asleep.

“Kane, did you sleep on the flight over?” she asked curiously.

He shook his head. He had been too worried to sleep, plus he worked himself up into a frenzy, thinking that Isabel or Hadrian was hurt in some manner. Before that, he had not been sleeping well anyway. He finally felt at ease and all of the anxiety was starting to wear off. Being able to embrace Isabel and feel her fingers on his scalp certainly was helping to comfort him and let him know that it was finally all right to sleep.

“Kane?” Isabel said as she felt his breathing steady against her. He was sleeping. She smiled and left him as he was.

She watched him in his sleep for a while. She was thankful that he did not ask the most embarrassing question of them, especially considering what happened with Hadrian. He did not ask if the baby was his. She wondered if it just did not matter to him or he figured out that she would not have called him if the baby had a chance of being someone’s child.

She considered that she might bring that up later on. The discussion that they just shared, honest questions with honest answers, was quite refreshing. She felt better knowing why he left and she felt better telling him about the baby. Maybe talking about one’s feelings was not as bad as she thought it was … well, to a certain extent.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. One half-hour conversation, crying, and some hugs and I’m suddenly ready to bear my soul to him? Yeah, right,” she scoffed. For now, she would take things moment by moment with Kane. This moment asked for her to go back to sleep for a couple of hours. She was out just as quickly as Kane. 

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kane and Isabel talk things over about the baby and then do something crazy.


	8. Alter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian; he’s Disney’s character. I do own Kane, Isabel, and her family.

7: Alter

Kane was surprised to wake up on a familiar sofa. It had a familiar scent coating it, but not the one he was used to. The couch actually used to smell like him because he spent so much time on it. Now, it was covered in the aroma of its owner.

“Bella …” Kane whispered as looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

While looking around, he started remembering what happened when he came to the apartment. She had not killed him for waking her up early in her morning or showing up unannounced, which he knew was a good sign. And then he recalled the news that she had given him. She was pregnant.

The thought of her being pregnant got Kane up. Climbing to his feet, he was able to see that Isabel was in the kitchen, sitting at the table. She was going over something in a notebook, but he did not care. He just wanted to be close to her; she could do whatever she was doing while he was there.

He went over to her and embraced her from behind. He waited for the usual yelling or violence; whichever came first. He was pleasantly surprised when she reached up and put her hand on his forearm; his arms were around her shoulders.

She was stunned when he did not say anything, just lingered on her back. She continued doing what she was doing and he remained there. As seconds went by, he wondered, _what would she do if I kissed her?_ Nothing passionate or lustful, just a sweet peck on the cheek. Would she hit him then? _Time to find out_ , he figured; after all, he liked taking risks, especially with this woman.

He cautiously approached the target area: the center of her right cheek. His eyes went back and forth between his target and her eyes. He noted that she was watching him, but trying to play it off; she was good at that. Still, he proceeded and placed a soft kiss to her cheek. She carried on with her work as if nothing happened. He sighed in relief and settled against her as best he could with her sitting down and the back of the chair in his way.

They were still silent; the only noise that they were really making was from their breathing. The breathing was drowned out by the sounds of the paper scraping against the paper, which was on the bare table, echoed through the kitchen. But, then those were suddenly gone. He looked down at her hand and watched the hand place the pen down.

“Kane, sit down,” Isabel ordered.

He was in a chair in less than a second; hey, she used the “scary” voice. He was smiling at her, which she did not respond to. She glared at him, which he, in turn, did not respond to. They shared those expressions for several long seconds, waiting for the other to falter. The contest was a stalemate.

“What’re we going to do?” Isabel asked to get the conversation started. There were some things that they needed to work out, beyond their emotions.

“I thought we were having a baby. What’s to discuss?” he countered, now looking rather puzzled with his mouth scrunched up. He scratched the side of his head in confusion.

“What do you mean, what’s to discuss? Having the baby’s just the beginning. You should know that from Hadrian. What’re we going to do?” she repeated.

Kane thought for a moment. “Well, we could get married!”

Isabel’s expression fell into a deadpan. “I’d rather shoot myself,” she said in dead serious tone.

“I dunno, Bella. You seem like the marrying type to me,” he remarked, grin back in place.

“Like hell I’d ever marry you.”

He laughed a bit; it would seem that her emotional moment had passed while he was sleeping. “Fine, you don’t wanna get married. No problem. We could get a house. I mean, two kids seem like house material to me.”

Isabel shook her head. “I can’t afford a house right now.”

“Bella,” Kane said, reaching over the table and taking her hand in his. She did not pull away, which he took as a sign to continue. “We’re in this together. It’s not about you affording a house. It’s about us affording a house. Look, I don’t know what you want from me right now, but I kinda know what I want and I think you know what I want. I’m here, Bella. I’m here for you and I’m here for our kids.”

“You say that now,” Isabel pointed out, speaking in a slightly low voice, but sounding quite bitter. She really wished that she could take that back, but part of her was happy that she said it. It was something that she thought, after all.

His head went back a little and his face fell in shock. “You’re not going to trust me even now?”

Isabel sighed because she was not sure how to respond to that question; he made her so confused. She was not sure how she should treat him anymore. She rubbed her forehead for a few seconds with her free hand.

“How about this, Bella, would you like to take a trip with me?” he proposed out of the blue. Being spontaneous was just a part of who he was and part of why he seemed random at times.

“Take a trip with you?” she echoed with an arched eyebrow. She did not see how that would solve their problems.

“Yes, take a trip. What we can do is, take a vacation together. Not for a long time, just a few days. We can get to know each other better, more honestly, and figure out just what to do after getting some rest and relaxation. After all, you never really know someone until you take a trip with them,” he explained his suggestion. He hoped that made sense as he was just making it up as he went along.

Isabel arched an eyebrow again, higher that time. _Kane just said something that actually makes sense?_ She wondered if it was something that she would have to get used to or he was just having a very random moment.

“It’ll also give me a chance to get in your pants again,” he added with a grin.

 _Ah, random moment_ , she silently decided. “Pervert! Like I’d ever sleep with you again.”

Kane chuckled; he had heard that before. His lopsided grin remained in tact. “But, I can dream, can’t I?” 

“No. You better not be including me in your perverted fantasies,” she stated in a firm tone.

“Including? Bella, you’re the star!” he declared. He would have thought that was obvious.

Isabel sucked her teeth and turned her nose up at him. “Idiot.”

“Yeah, I know, but I’m an idiot with some great mental images of—” he would have gone into incredible detail about her body if she only gave him the chance.

“Shut up,” she commanded him in a stern tone. “Now, are you serious about going on a trip?”

“Yeah, I’m serious. You’ll be able to clear your head if you don’t have all this pressure on you. When are you free? I’ll start buying plane tickets and everything.”

“Kane, you do realize we’ll have to find a babysitter, right?” she inquired since he seemed to forget that “little” tidbit.

“Your mom won’t do it?” he asked in complete and utter shock. His face was twisted into quite the ugly expression, his mouth open and the right half of his top lip turned up toward his eye. His eyebrows were high on his head, but his wild hair covered them.

“We might have to ask very, very nicely. And sell her our souls,” Isabel quipped, but she sounded quite serious.

“We have souls?”

Isabel seemed to think it over for a moment and then a light bulb seemed to go off in her head. “Okay, so, maybe we’ll have to steal some souls to sell to her and then go ask her.”

“Or we could ask her and I could make sure to look extra pathetic while we do. I could even lie and tell her I won’t fuck you on this trip,” he proposed with a bright smile, as if he had just solved their problems.

“You won’t!” she shrieked indignantly at him.

He rolled his eyes, which earned him a punch in the face. _Well, she seems to be back to normal_ , he noted, _which is good_. He liked her normal … his jaw did not like it so much, but as a whole, he liked her normal.

“Look, Bella, we won’t know until we try,” he said and then he noticed her fist flex. He realized that he had not used the best choice of words there. “What I mean is that we won’t know if your mom will watch the little prince or not until we ask her. So, you can handle that end and I’ll get the ball rolling for the trip.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for me to find out if she’ll do it before you go wasting your money on plane tickets we might not use?”

 _She’s got a point_ , he mentally conceded and nodded in agreement with her. She sighed; he had a bad habit of getting ahead of things. She decided to go get the ball rolling, thinking that it was going to be stopped before it even got started.

“You should take a shower,” Isabel said to Kane while walking over to her phone.

Kane shrugged, figuring that he did not smell too good considering the trip he had over to her place. He was shocked that she could stand his smell enough to be within ten feet of him. He was about to run to the bathroom, but when he got into the hallway, he saw Hadrian in his room.

“Hey, little prince,” Kane said with a grin. He delighted feeling shot through him, making him eager to see the infant.

The baby seemed to recognize that voice. He turned from the toy that he was playing with in the crib and looked at Kane. He threw his hands up, silently pleading to be picked up as soon as he saw his father. Kane happily obliged.

“I guess you missed me too, huh? Sorry I left. I kinda figured out it was a stupid thing to do. I damn near wrecked our family, didn’t I? Well, I won’t be doing that again, I promise you,” Kane vowed while adjusting the baby in his arms.

Hadrian seemed to be listening. He nodded when Kane was done talking, which brought a smile to the young man’s face. The baby grinned when Kane finished with his little speech and he sort of hugged Kane.

“Yeah, we’re going to have a great little family,” Kane promised with a determined look in her violet eyes.

Hadrian must have liked that idea because he laughed. Kane then put the baby back in the crib to play with his toys. He really needed to go take that shower, he reminded himself. 

-8-8-8-8- 

“Mommy, will you just do this one thing for me?” Isabel practically growled. She was more making a request than a demand like her tone implied. Really, she was begging.

“I’ve done many things for you as it is, like give you life. In return, it’s been grief for the past nineteen years,” Isabella remarked in a plain tone.

“Fuck you, Mommy.”

“Yes, that’s the way to ask for a favor,” the older woman commented sarcastically. It probably would shock the world to see how the Han women interacted with each other, but it would explain a lot in how they interacted with people that annoyed them.

“Can you just watch Hadrian for a few goddamn days?”

“Of course I _could_ ,” Isabella blandly replied.

Isabel let a low growl escape her throat. “ _Will_ you watch Hadrian for a few goddamn days?”

“That I will not.”

“Why not?” the daughter demanded to know.

“If I had to explain myself to you, I would, but since I don’t, I won’t,” Isabella answered.

“You know, what, fine. Be a bitch. See if I give a fuck.”

Isabella did not argue and hung up the phone. Little did she know, but Isabel had an ace in the hole to get her way. She dialed up her sister’s private line. She was about to bite a bullet, but she supposed it would be all right since she was about to lie through her teeth to her sister.

“Hey,” Victoria answered her phone surprisingly enough.

“Hey, what’re you doing home?” Isabel inquired, very close to sounding shocked.

“Taking a break. I don’t go out every day you know.”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I meant. It’s a school day,” Isabel pointed out.

“Oh, don’t tell me that the world’s biggest truant is going to lecture me about going to school,” the blonde remarked with a chuckle.

“As Mommy would say, do as I say, not as I do. So, you start taking your ass to school more often.”

Victoria rolled her eyes. “To what do I owe the pleasure of the call?” she asked to avoid being nagged, which her big sister was good for if given the right alignment of the planets and stars.

“I need you to watch Hadrian for a few days.”

“You make it hard for a girl to go to school every day if you need her to watch your son,” the younger sister remarked. Her voice alone made it clear that she was smirking like the demon she was. The eldest was not affected by the sound of her voice.

“Like a dumbass like you was going to go to school anyway,” the older female said dryly.

“Fuck you, Izzie,” Victoria replied, but it was clear from her tone that she was smiling as she spoke. “Fuck you” might as well have been a term of endearment with them it seemed.

“Will you watch him?”

“Why do you need me to watch him?” the blonde countered. She waited to see if her big sister would pull the “I’m the big sister, so I don’t have to tell you” line. She hated that with a passion and she would hang up if her sister uttered it.

Isabel was prepared for the question. “I need to go away for a few days.”

Victoria was silent. Alarms were going off in her head, Isabel knew that because she never offered information so freely to anyone, not even her adored little sister. None of them offered up information easily, in fact. Victoria knew that she had to be very careful if she was actually going to find out what was going on.

“Why are you going away?” Victoria blurted out and Isabel almost laughed. _Poor Vic isn’t very good at being subtle when it comes to dealing with uncharacteristic moves from me_. Victoria was definitely much better at it with everyone else, though.

“I need to figure some things out.” 

“Ah, philosophical journey with many twists and turns, no doubt. You should film it,” Victoria remarked with a teasing giggle. “Now, tell me why you’re really going away for a few days.”

“I seriously need to figure some things out.”

“You going by yourself?”

And Isabel was about to spring news that would get her sister to watch the baby; she was sure of that. “I’m going with Kane.”

“Oh, you’re going to get you some action! Well, yeah, I’ll watch the kid for a few days! I’ll use him to scare old boyfriends,” the younger sister replied. It was about time her sister went for Kane. She was starting to wonder about Isabel and if she was all right in the brain with the way she was playing around with him.

“Do not use my baby to frighten your old boyfriends,” Isabel ordered in deadpan tone. She knew that she had to say that or her little sister would seriously go around pretending that Hadrian was hers just to bother her former lovers.

“Why? It would be so much fun.”

“Don’t use him like that. He’s not a prop in a practical joke. He’s my son for crying out loud and your damn nephew.”

“Fine. You don’t make this babysitting gig fun, you know? So, how long are you going to be gone? Just to let you know, if your legs aren’t numb when you plan to leave, you haven’t been gone long enough.”

Isabel shook her head; _good old Victoria, always offering perverted advic_ e. She was also willing to do damn near anything for her big sister if there was a chance that it might help get Isabel laid. Victoria thought that it was good for her sister to have some attention from guys, especially if the guy was not Jason, which was why she helped.

“I’ll call you to let you know we’re leaving,” Isabel said.

“Oh, please do!” Victoria replied. “Oh, and Izzie.”

“What?” the impatient question came through gritted teeth. Isabel very much hated her nickname.

“Don’t screw this up. Kane’s a good guy willing to put up with your shit. And you like him, a lot. Just accept it.”

Isabel sighed and hung up; she hated it when Victoria made actual sense. She did wonder what she was going to do about Kane. She supposed that was something that she would have to figure out on the vacation, too. She dismissed it from her mind when she heard footsteps, so she knew that Kane was out of the shower.

“Uh … Bella …” Kane said.

“Yeah?” Isabel replied, her attention more on the phone that she had recently hung up than anything else.

“I got a problem.”

She sighed in annoyance. “What problem—?” Isabel’s words died in her throat as she looked up.

Kane was standing in nothing but a towel; honestly and truly, he was wearing nothing more than the towel. Isabel tried her best to maintain her annoyance, but it was pretty much impossible to do with her eyes glued to his glistening chest; apparently, Kane did not know how to dry himself off. His near-bronze torso seemed to beckon her and a flutter in her stomach made her nearly obey. After a few long seconds, she was able to control herself again.

“What’s the problem, Kane?” she inquired. Her voice was tense, but it was not because of annoyance.

“No clothes,” he answered.

Isabel sighed. “Why don’t you have any clothes?” 

“I rushed over here worried about you! I couldn’t bother with little things!” 

“You mean little things like clothes?” she remarked in a dry tone with a deadpan expression.

“Well, yes, now I could see how they might not be so little, but I was worried.”

Isabel considered that she might kill Kane if they were actually left alone together on a vacation just from that little interaction. She supposed that she could loan him something of hers, figuring that since she was so much taller than he was, then the clothing might actually fit. But then again, while he was short, he was wide. He was bound to stretch out any shirt she tried to give him.

“Better make it one I don’t like then,” Isabel decided as she stood up. “Come on, you. Let’s get you something to wear.” She walked off toward her bedroom.

“Trying to get me into bed again, Bella? All you have to do is say so,” he remarked with a lewd grin on his face as he followed her into the room.

She frowned deeply and appeared ready to bite his head off for a second. “Shut up.”

Isabel tossed Kane one of her larger t-shirts; it was something that she typically slept in. It fit him, which was no surprise. The surprise came when she threw him a pair of boxers.

“What the hell?” Kane muttered when the underwear hit him in the face. He hoped to all that was holy Isabel had not just hit him in the face with some man’s underwear.

“Don’t worry. They’re mine. I use them for pajamas,” Isabel explained, sounding almost offended.

Kane breathed a sigh of relief and then he realized what her tone implied. “I wasn’t trying to say anything with my question, you know,” he told her while removing the boxers from his head.

Isabel did not reply. She knew he was not saying anything, but it was so easy to get angry with him, as far as she was concerned anyway. She turned her head while he put the boxers on, which he thought was funny; after all, it was not like she had never seen him naked and it was not like he minded if she did see him naked.

“So, Vic said she’d watch Hadrian if you’re still serious about going away for a few days,” Isabel informed him once he was somewhat dressed. She still did not turn around to look at him.

“Cool, so I’ll get us set to fly. This’ll be great,” Kane declared and he walked off to the living room to go use the phone. She watched him leave; the boxers were too small and tight, but like with most things, he did not seem to mind. Isabel still thought that she might kill him on a trip with him.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane was starting to think that Isabel might kill him on the trip. They got things settled pretty quickly, which was a surprise. A lot of things were a surprise in about their first twenty-four hours in Vegas. Yes, Kane decided that they should go to Las Vegas. He wanted to walk the strip, then afterwards go and see the Grand Canyon again, and maybe do some climbing. He doubted that he would even be able to climb a flight of stairs when Isabel was done with him, so the Grand Canyon was definitely out. He supposed that he should have stopped his suggestions at going to Las Vegas, but he had kept going and got himself into his current predicament.

He was just catching his breath, lying on his back in a king-sized bed in a rather nice hotel room, when he felt a familiar hand on his chest. He turned to his left, looking at his travel-mate; emphasis on the word “mate” at that point in that trip. She had a predatory smirk on her face with emerald eyes hiding underneath half-closed lids.

“Ready for more?” Isabel inquired, looking so much like the demon he was starting to believe she was.

Kane’s body was pleading with his brain to at least beg for a couple of minutes. Yes, he had a lot of energy, but he was still a very slow individual. He was never prepared to do something right away or over and over again. It seemed like his brain forgot that key piece of information, which might have had something to do with the fact that his other head was doing most of the thinking and it seemed to be a part of him that liked to keep up with Isabel.

“I’m game if you are,” Kane found himself saying. In response, his heart seemed to comment, “You know what? I quit.” But, he luckily did not have a heart attack; he would have been quite pissed to have to go to the hospital in the middle of another session with Isabel.

Kane learned something that trip: never get Isabel drunk. It was not that she could not hold her alcohol. In fact, due to her height and weight, she held it pretty well. It was just that most people would end up dead drunk after a bunch of tequila shots without any chasers; he damn sure did.

Now, Isabel being drunk was not why he was being sexed to death, no. The sex stemmed from the fact that she decided to be more honest about her feeling toward him, which was both a liking and loathing; he figured that the loathing was why she was trying to kill him now. The drinking led to her decision to be more honest; of course, there was a middle destination between drunk and truth. They actually came back to that middle part a few times.

“This was such a good idea, Kane,” Isabel practically cooed as she crawled onto of him.

“Yeah …” Kane answered in a breath. He was so glad he suggested the vacation, even if she did kill him. He could already picture himself walking to the gates of Hell with a giant grin on his face and there would not be enough punishment in any level of Hell to rid him of it. 

Isabel was not too sure what came over her, but after the first day of the vacation, all she wanted to do was be with Kane. It had nothing to do with the drinking, but a lot to do with just a physical craving that she could not shake, and even more to do with the decision to stop torturing the both of them. She told him that they were making up for lost time; he did not oppose the plan. In between all the time they spent coupling, they ate, slept, and sorted out whatever internal problems they needed to. The vacation was having the desired effect of allowing them to figure things out, with a few unexpected side effects.

“Bella …” Kane said in a whisper as Isabel collapsed onto of him; they were both spent for now. “I …” He wanted to tell her that he was actually able to figure something out on the vacation. He finally understood why he made the promise to never leave her, to always be there for her.

“Shh …” Isabel said, gently placing her finger to his mouth. “Don’t tell me now. Show me from now on, okay?”

Kane nodded to show that he understood. He reminded himself that Isabel was all about action. Talk was cheap for the most part, although they both conceded that they were going to need to do some talking to avoid things going sour.

-8-8-8-8-

“Vic, I’m here for Hadrian,” Isabel called as she walked into her mother’s house. She kicked her shoes off and waited for her sister to appear with her son. Kane hovered around the door because he doubted he would be able to make it to the couch and even if he did, he knew that he would pass out on it.

“Vic’s passed out upstairs,” Isabella informed her eldest as she came downstairs, holding Hadrian in her arms.

“Hadrian gave her a rough few days, huh?” Isabel asked with a slightly amused look on her face.

Isabella craned an eyebrow as she took in her eldest daughter. Something was up about Isabel and it was not the fact that she amused about the notion that Hadrian wore Victoria out. Isabel had a glow to her and it seemed like she was smiling, even though her expression was as bland as it typically was.

“Of course. I think it was good for her. It should keep anything stupid from happening with her anytime soon,” the elder woman remarked as she handed over the baby to Isabel. She caught a glimpse of something on Isabel’s left hand while giving her the child. “Izzie, what’s that on your hand?” she practically demanded to know.

“What’s what?” Isabel countered while hugging her son to her. She had missed him for the past few days. He hugged her back and cooed at her touch.

“That thing on your left hand?” Isabella pressed, glaring down at the object in question.

“Oh, that. Ask Kane about it. Where are Hadrian’s things?” Isabel asked, as if everything was normal.

“Up in your room,” Isabella replied in a dismissive tone while marching over to Kane.

Isabel went upstairs and left Kane on his own to deal with her mother. Isabella frowned at the exhausted young man. He was too tired to even recognize the dangerous glint in her sapphire eyes.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Isabella demanded to know, voice raw and tense. Her hand was balled into a tight fist and her arm trembled.

“Standing here?” he guessed in an almost dazed tone.

Isabella wasted no time slapping him in the head for that, which got a wince out of him that she did not care about. “No, what the hell do you think you’re doing with my daughter? What the hell is that ring all about?”

“Oh! That. We got married a couple of days ago.” He made it sound like it was no big thing, like they did that everyday or something.

The nonchalance in his response earned him another slap, harder than the first one. “What the fuck? Who gave you fucking permission to marry my daughter?” she inquired harshly, practically snarling as she spoke.

“Uh … she did.” Another slap, much harder than the first two. He was going to have a knot by the end of the discussion. She hoped that his whole head ended up bruised from her blows.

“Why the hell would she consent to marrying an idiot like you after what you did to have?” Isabella hit him in the chest with the back of her hand.

The force caused him to cough a bit. He wondered if she was pounding him at full strength or if there was even more where that came from. Either way, he hoped that she stopped hitting him before she broke one of his bones or injured something important.

“We talked it over and decided it was for the best. We’re cool, now,” he replied as if it was nothing at all. He did not know what else to say. They had spoke and decided marriage was the only for them both to prove to each other that the other was not going to leave any time soon.

“Do you know what the hell it takes to be married? You two hardly get along and you have the nerve to get married? What the fuck is wrong with you two?” Isabella asked with her face twisted in anger.

Kane was silent for a moment. He turned his tired violet eyes to look up at what he knew to be a worried mother. He could not blame her; he had hurt her daughter, after all. Sure, her daughter had done the same to him, but it was only right for her to take her daughter’s side.

“I know we did something really impulsive. Hell, maybe even a little stupid—” he started and she cut him off.

“A little stupid?” she huffed. No, a little stupid was the song and dance that they were doing before. Getting married just plain foolishness!

“But, just because it was impulsive and stupid doesn’t mean it won’t work out. I’m going to take care of Isabel and our two kids and I want her to know I mean that when I say it.”

“How the fuck are you going to do that when you don’t even have a job?” Isabella demanded in a heated tone. She was unaware of Kane’s finical status and really never thought too much on it until now. Now, it was important because it affected her daughter and grandchildren.

“Money’s not an issue. And it never will be, I can promise you that. You already know, emotionally, I’m there for her. Just trust me with your daughter,” he requested, pled, implored her with his eyes to believe him.

“I trusted her with you once and you broke her heart.”

“No more than she broke mine. We’re working past those issues. Give me a chance before you label me a jerk that’s better off dead, okay?”

Isabella eyed Kane deeply for a few seconds, silently impressed when he did not squirm under the scrutiny. She knew how the two teens felt about each other, but she did not think that they were ready to be married. But, there was really nothing she could do, short of forcing them down to a court to get it annulled. And, sure, she _could_ do that, but they would resent her for it and Isabel would likely just go marry him again to spite her mother. Still, Isabella was curious.

-8-8-8-8-

“What in the world possessed you to go out and marry Kane?” Isabella asked her daughter sometime after finding out about the marriage. She, Isabel, and Victoria were just sitting around the living room in Isabella’s house. They got together every now and then just to be around each other; it was sort of force of habit, they supposed. Heaven forbid anyone of them admitted that they liked being with each other.

“Well, I am pregnant with his child,” Isabel answered, as if that was valid response. She had no intention of telling her mother about the emotional desperation both she and Kane suffered that made getting married sound like a brilliant idea at the time.

Isabel was lying on the floor while her mother was sitting on the couch. Victoria was making use of the only time that it was safe to sit or lay on the coffee table. The blonde was living it up, too, decked out on the table with her limbs spread out like a happy kitten.

“That’s not a good reason,” her mother said, shaking her head a bit.

“Besides, you were pregnant before and didn’t marry anyone,” Victoria pointed out. Thank god, she and her mother thought.

“Does it really matter why I married him?” Isabel countered. She had her reasons to do what she did, which was why she was still married to him, even after she woke up from the bender that they had been on and noticed the plain gold band on her ring finger. She did hope their mindless little party had not harmed the baby in any way.

“We just wanna know if it’s real or not. This way, we can prepare for what size disaster it’ll end up being,” the youngest among them remarked.

“It is real. Simple as that,” Isabel replied plainly.

“Then put some damn effort into it to save us all some grief. If this marriage is real, like you claim it is, then you better not pull any of the shit you were doing with Kane before,” Isabella commented quite seriously.

Isabel nodded. She made the decision to marry Kane based on the fact that she was going to start treating him differently, she was going to show some effort toward him, and she was going to be more honest with herself about her feelings toward him. She wanted them to work.

“But, I’m still going to hit him,” Isabel said.

“Definitely,” Isabella agreed with a nod.

“We are, too,” Victoria chimed in. The subject was dropped after that. They supposed they were just going to have to wait to see how things worked out.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the newly married couple goes house hunting.


	9. Getting to know you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian; Disney does. I do own Kane and Isabel.

8: Getting to know you 

“Kane, I don’t know about this place,” Isabel commented while looking at the huge house that Kane suggested they buy. In her opinion, there was enough room for five families in the house and they did not even have five people in their family.

“What’re you kidding? This place is great!” Kane declared with a grin as he scanned the house, too. They were standing in the foyer with a real estate agent, who had been giving them the same skeptical look since they arrived at the place.

“We don’t need some place this big,” Isabel argued. Forget the fact that she doubted that they could afford it.

“Of course we do! We’ve got a kid on the way and Hadrian’s already here. Kids need space to run around,” Kane countered, motioning around the house with one sweep of his hand. “How many bedrooms does the house have?” he asked the real estate agent.

“Seven,” the woman answered plainly.

“That’s too many,” Isabel quickly said. “We’ve only got two kids.” 

“But, we might have more. Instead of worrying about moving, we’ll already be some place big enough to support our tribe,” he argued with a grin as he bounced with extra energy. He seemed so tickled about this venture.

“We’re not having a tribe,” Isabel proclaimed in a huff, folding her arms across her chest as if that made her word law. _Dammit, he’s lucky that we have the one we have and one on the way_. _I am not going through any more pregnancies after this one_ , she mentally declared.

Kane turned his attention to the real estate agent and grinned at her. “We’re gonna have a tribe. So, show us around the place and ignore the whining and doubting coming from the emotional woman with me. Pregnancy does strange things to the mind,” he remarked, earning himself a powerful punch to the back of the head. He fell forward, but managed to stay on his feet.

“Don’t listen to him. If there’s anyone to ignore, he would be the one,” Isabel told the real estate agent in a rather blunt tone.

The real estate agent was not sure what to make of the couple. She had muttered something about calling the police if they were just joking about being interested in the house when she first saw them. They had heard the comment, but ignored it and went to look at the house. She still seemed to be in that mindset, though.

The place was quite large. There were the seven huge bedrooms, three full bathrooms, a spacious living room, a couple of dens, a giant kitchen, a matching dining room, an office space, and a laundry room. The basement was big enough for a movie theater and an arcade, which Kane seemed to already be planning on if his thinking aloud meant anything.

“I love this house! I mean, can you imagine how many pinball machines I could fit down here?” Kane inquired while moving about the empty basement as if he was a child lost in a toy store.

“And you two are married?” the real estate agent asked Isabel. She had noted the gold bands on their fingers while giving the tour, but with the way that they acted, she was not totally sure if the rings meant anything at all.

“Happily … you know, before we came in here and he completely embarrassed me,” Isabel replied with a sigh while shaking her head.

“You mean he didn’t embarrass you in that outfit before he left the house?” the agent inquired, not really thinking as she spoke. It was just one thing that had been bugging her. Kane was wearing a tie-dyed shirt with four holes in it; one of which was in the armpit. His jeans were too long and he did not bother to cuff them; the back pocket on the left side had been torn almost completely off, too.

“He wisely dressed when I was out and then purposely made us late for this meeting so I wouldn’t tell him to change.”

“Not as dumb as he acts then,” the agent muttered to herself. “Well, he seems to like the house well enough. And you?” 

“She loves it!” Kane answered while zipping over to his wife; she doubted that she ever saw him more that fast in his life and she probably never would again, she figured. He attached himself around her waist and nodded several times to answer the question that was posed to her.

“I believe she asked me,” Isabel said, glaring down at him from the corner of her eye.

“It doesn’t matter. This house is the best we’ve looked at,” Kane declared with a grin. Isabel sighed and shook her head; he had no clue how to shop for anything. She wondered how badly Kane played poker, too.

“I still say it’s too big. We don’t need this much space,” Isabel stated, motioning around the room.

“What do you mean? The tribe will need this much space!” Kane insisted.

“We’re not having a tribe. We’re going to have two kids and that’s all. We don’t need anymore than that and if that’s the case, we don’t need seven bedrooms. My mother raised me and Vic in that house since we were small. We could get a little three bedroom place just like that,” Isabel said.

“But, there were only the two of you,” Kane argued.

“Yeah, and there will only be two of them,” she countered while folding her arms across her chest as if that ended the argument.

Kane sighed and shrugged. “Fine … You know what, we can go look at smaller places if you want to later on, but I’m still buying this house,” he stated as if that was a normal thing to say.

Isabel craned an eyebrow, somehow knowing that her husband meant that he was going to buy the house that they were in and still consider purchasing a smaller house that she might want. She was ready to call his bluff on the matter, but she could see that he was serious from the almost stern look in his face. She could only wonder how he thought that they would be able to afford two houses; hell, she did not understand how he thought that they were affording the house that they were in right now.

It was then that she remembered his house back in Italy. She then thought about his behavior since he came to the United States. He never had a job from what she could tell and yet he had a room at an expensive hotel, always was able to rent a car, was always able to pay for their meals, and all other types of things. It was clear that he was not the average vagrant.

For a moment, Isabel wondered where Kane got his money. She looked at him for a moment and tried to consider if he might be a part of anything that was illegal. He did not act like it and she felt like she would notice something like that, not that she minded illegal activity. Hell, before her mother got her into fight choreography, she made most of her money in street fighting, which was not legal in any way, shape, or form that she could think of at the moment. She made a mental note to bug him about that later on.

“Look, Kane, we should shop around before jumping at the first house we look at,” Isabel stated, trying to get him to understand that they really did not need such a large home.

“No, this one is great! Besides, I’ve seen plenty of homes in my life and this one is a piece of work,” Kane declared with a grin.

“Just like you. And I’m sure you have seen plenty of homes in your life,” Isabel remarked, trying to fight off a smile. The expression was not as cynical as she would have liked it to be.

Kane only grinned proudly, knowing that he had won the war, even though it had not been said in so many words. Isabel sighed, but took care of things since Kane did not seem to know how to buy a house, even though he knew what he liked. Isabel could not believe that Kane was just ready to pay the asking price on the place.

“Kane, you don’t know how to haggle?” Isabel asked incredulously while the couple settled down into Isabel’s apartment. They had picked Hadrian up from his grandmother and he was currently taking a nap, leaving his parents in peace for the moment.

“I didn’t know they do that here,” he answered honestly while flopping down onto the sofa.

“They do it here with certain things. I guess I have many things to teach you,” Isabel remarked with a bit of a smirk as she sat down too, on top of Kane. She placed herself on his legs with her legs to the side of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew close enough to him that their noses almost touched.

“Don’t think you’ll be the only one teaching things around here,” he quipped with a small smile.

“Stop trying to be smooth,” she scolded him, lightly slapping him in the chest.

Kane only grinned like a goofy child before Isabel wiped that expression off of his face with a deep kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling, but he did not really have to worry about that, not with the way that she was clinging to him. She was practically holding on for dear life.

The kiss was anything but romantic. Isabel seemed to be trying to devour Kane, not that he would have minded. Her tongue raided his mouth, plundered his being. It was like she was hungry and he was the meal. He was actually used to her current behavior. She had been acting in such a way ever since they got married.

“Get naked,” she commanded him in an almost-angry whisper as she pulled away from his delightful mouth.

She did not have to tell him twice. Isabel was amazed how easily Kane followed her orders when it came to being intimate, but he did not make it seem as if he did so out of fear or anxiety. He just did not seem to care or did not seem intimidated by her. Why she found that as sexy as she did, she doubted that she would ever know. It was nice to able to admit that to herself now, without having to dismiss it as early dementia setting in.

Isabel led their act, as she had most of the times that they had done it since getting married. Kane actually doubted that he had had as much sex in his whole life as he had since getting married to Isabel … not that he was going to complain. Hell, Isabel could be the last woman that he ever touched and he would not complain.

Their time was cut short as Hadrian started crying. Isabel swore rather loudly, but they both ceased their actions. There was just no way that they could ignore their son bawling, no matter what they were doing.

“He sounds like he’s just cranky from waking up,” Isabel commented as they both made their way to the baby’s room. They were fully clothed once again.

Hadrian was in his crib. He had pulled himself into a standing position; he could do that slightly well at eight months old. When he saw his parents, he put his hands up, which meant he was no longer gripping the front of the crib. Hadrian dropped down onto his butt, but did not seem to notice considering his tone did not change at all. He continued crying and holding his hands up.

“Come to Daddy, little prince,” Kane said while lifting the child up. Hadrian stopped crying as soon as he was secure in his father’s arms. “Hey, little prince, guess what me and your mommy did today. We went and brought a house for you and your little siblings.”

“Sibling,” Isabel corrected her husband in quite the reprimanding tone.

“You don’t know. You could be having twins or something just as cool,” Kane commented with a grin.

The remark earned Kane a scathing look that surely would have led to cardiac arrest in a lesser, or possibly smarter, soul. Kane took it with a smile, as always. They both then turned their attention back to their son.

“So, lemme tell you about this beautiful house we’re going to live in. It’s kinda small by my standards, which you would know if you saw the house we have in Italy, but your mom assures me that it’s quite big. I’ll believe her since she’s so smart …”

Kane flashed a smile his wife’s way, which caused her to roll her eyes. Isabel walked away while Kane continued to tell the baby about the house. Isabel cooked dinner and called Kane to eat to find out that he was still talking about the house … to a baby that had not even said his first word yet no less.

“I guess he is excited about moving into a house together,” Isabel mumbled to herself with a smile as she handed Kane his dinner. Kane looked down at the plate as if he expected the food to bite him. She craned an eyebrow. “What?”

“I told you to stop serving me, Bella. It’s creepy!” Kane pointed out, whining somewhat.

“What? I’ve fixed your food before,” she argued.

“It’s as creepy now as it was creepy then. I know you don’t serve people, especially me … unless you’re trying to kill me with kindness and that I don’t need right now. After all, I wanna be able to live a few minutes in our house before you try to kill me.”

Isabel could only mutter the word “idiot” in his general direction because her heart was too busy beating well over the speed limit from hearing him say “our house.” She tried to ignore the affect that it was having on her, that _he_ was having on her. At least she could accept that he could affect her, though.

“Kane, how are you planning on paying for that big house, anyway? You know I don’t have that much saved away and my mother would laugh in your face if you ask her,” Isabel pointed out, hoping that the subject change would quell her pounding heart. She also took Hadrian from Kane, so that the purple-eyed Italian could eat his dinner.

Kane laughed as he sat down. “What if I got on my hands and knees and begged her?” he joked.

“She would probably have a lot of fun trying to fix your brain by kicking you in the head since you were down there, anyway.”

“I’ll remember that. Maybe I could use my wit and charm to seduce her.”

“Good luck. I’m pretty sure she kills after she mates, though.”

Kane grinned, quite the cheeky look. It let his wife know that he was about to say something to earn himself a slap. She gave him a stern look as a warning, which he did not heed.

“So, that’s where you get it from. I wonder what other wild traits you pick up from your mother. I think I should investigate this further with some hands-on research—Ow!” He suddenly complained as she smacked him soundly across the face; if she had used a glove, Kane would have thought that he was being challenged to a duel.

“Now, be serious. Tell me how you plan to chip in on this house. I’ve never seen you do anything that could be mistaken for work, so how do you even have money for anything? I mean, you don’t do anything,” Isabel pointed out.

“I don’t? Wasn’t I just doing something on that couch?” Kane grinned, earning a slap right afterwards.

“No, I was doing all the work there. Now, tell me how you’re going to put in on this house that you wanted so badly?”

Kane waved her off and started eating, only get slapped in the back of the head again. He did not flinch and barely paused in his eating. He let the food go down, without choking surprisingly enough, before answering the question.

“I got money. You don’t have to worry about that,” he tried to assure her, smiling as he spoke.

“Okay, you’ve got money. Where do you have money from, though? How do you make your money? I mean, we’re married. I should know stuff like this,” she pointed out while sitting down next to him.

Kane scratched the side of his head as if he was thinking about it. Isabel raising her hand, promising a sound hit, did not get him to think any faster. She frowned and popped him a good one on the side of his head.

“Dammit, Kane, tell me or I’ll assume the worst,” Isabel stated.

“What would be the worst? Would it make me seem more macho?” he inquired with a grin, knowing his kidding around was just going to get him hit again. He was quite right about that.

“Kane, I’m not joking around,” she replied with a stern look in her face, but in a soft-spoken tone.

Kane scratched the side of his head again. “I guess I never told you, but I inherited money when my parents died.”

Isabel nodded, wondering if maybe she should have left things alone. Kane did not talk too much about his parents. She could tell it was not because he disliked his parents because the few times that he brought them up, he spoke fondly of them. She thought that he might still be mourning their loss.

She reached out and took his hand, which seemed to surprise him a bit. He looked up, locking eyes with her. She smiled a bit, a surprisingly sweet expression, which caused him to smile, too.

“I’m not used to talking about stuff like this. Sorry,” he apologized, a sheepish chuckle escaping his lips. “I’ve never really talked about money with anyone normal because I’ve never really had to.”

“What do you mean ‘normal’?” she asked, thinking that was an odd word to describe her.

“Oh, well, you know I talk about it with lawyers and guys like that, but never just a regular person. I’ve gotta get used to it a bit since we’re married and everything now. But, yeah, I guess I should tell you about it, huh?” he countered with his usual silly grin. He thought it was funny that it only just occurred to him to tell his wife about his financial situation.

“It would be nice, especially since you already know so much about my life when I know virtually nothing about yours,” she pointed out.

He scratched the side of his head. “Well, not much to tell you about my life. My life has been you and Hadrian for almost as long as you’ve known me. I like traveling, which you already know. I’ve been doing it my whole life since I never had to go to school.”

A curious look overtook her green eyes. “You never had to go to school?”

“Nope. I had a private tutor my whole life. Gimme a chance to tell it,” he ordered with a grin, even though he knew that the command was going to get him hit. He was right again and then he was able to continue. “Had a private tutor my whole life because my mom had wanderlust, too, and she liked taking me along with her. We could afford the tutor because my mom was a countess. I inherited her title and she had a very large fortune for me to inherit, too. Plus, you know, they both had life insurance to go along with the fortune. I’ve been using the money to stay away from the house,” he commented with a shrug.

“You miss your mom?” Isabel asked quietly.

“Yeah, of course. I was close to both my parents. A lot of people tell me I’m just like my mom, but I think that I’m like both of them.”

Isabel nodded. “Okay. So, you’re a count?” she asked to be sure.

“Yup! Noble blood from my mother’s side. Ironic, isn’t it?” Of course, he grinned.

Isabel glanced away. “Very,” she muttered.

“You’re upset, aren’t you?” he guessed, pouting somewhat because he knew it was true. What had he done to upset her?

“You should’ve told me about that. I mean, you’re …” Isabel trailed off. She was not totally sure why she was upset. It was clear that Kane was not purposely deceiving her by not telling her about his status. It was not like it was a bad thing either. Sure, his family might assume she married him for his money or something similar, but she did not care about that since she knew that it was not true.

“I’m sorry. I told you, I’m just not used to talking about it. I just buy what I like or need and move on, like you do. I mean, I wouldn’t know what you do if I didn’t meet you on the movie set or have to babysit when you go out for shows or fights. I don’t even know how much you make,” he reminded her.

Isabel nodded; he had a point. She was not so open about her finances either. She chuckled a bit.

“I guess we’re both going to have to get used to this marriage thing. We have to open our lives up to each other in ways that we’ve never done with someone before,” she commented, smiling a bit as she spoke.

“I guess so. And the first step to that would be buying this house. We have to make our two lives one now, right?” he asked to be sure.

“That we do, Kane.”

“We’ll make it, though, Bella!” he vowed, grin still in place.

“Idiot …” she replied, smiling a bit herself.

-8-8-8-8-

“I can’t believe they’re moving into this place!” Victoria shouted as she exited her car, pulling out a few bags. She was standing in her sister’s front yard; she could not believe it was her sister’s home. It was an estate practically, which she could see her sister living in, but she knew that Isabel was probably against buying the place. Isabel was too much like their mother, practical to a fault much of the time.

“This is quite over the top,” Isabella agreed, getting out of the passenger side of the car. She took in the house in a brief glance. She supposed it was enough to be classified as a small mansion. The gate standing a few yards down the drive, closing the place off to the street, helped support that. The large, green front yard added to that; they could probably hold a carnival on their front yard. Despite the size, she did not disapprove, knowing that the place was for the children … and Kane from the way his face lit up when he discussed the house. She also knew that Kane planned for more than two children, so a large house did make sense. For some reason, she banked on him getting his way as far as kids went.

Isabella then turned into the car and went to the backseat. She had to take Hadrian out of his car seat. They had Hadrian with them because Kane owned a very small car and it was full of boxes that Isabel did not trust with moving men. Lucky, Isabel was at the house already or Kane would have had to tie her to the roof … or so he joked when she was not around; he had enough knots on his head for the week, after all, to not say that when she was within hearing range.

The mother and daughter walked up the brick pathway leading from the drive to the house. They had to push their way passed moving men, who were coming in and going out, a variety of things in hand. They stepped into the lobby and looked around again.

“Izzie must be loaded to be able to afford this,” Victoria muttered while scanning the front room. The vaulted ceiling of the lobby seemed to go on forever and the small tiled floor was so polished that she thought she might be able to see herself in it.

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s it,” Isabella commented. She was a tad curious as to how her eldest and her goofy husband could afford such a house, but since it was their decision and their life, she was not going to pry.

“To hell with the kids, I’m taking one of those spare rooms. Izzie, I’m moving in!” Victoria announced while putting down the bags that she was holding. It was hard to tell if she was joking or not.

“The hell you are! One of the reasons I got the hell out of Mommy’s house was because you were there, borrowing all my shit and breaking it half the damn time,” Isabel remarked as she stepped out of the living room, which was on the left of the entrance, into the lobby. She sounded quite serious about that and looked the same.

“What? I only broke … one, maybe two things in my whole life! And those happened when I was like eight!” Victoria argued, folding her arms across her chest. “You’re always living in the damn past, Izzie.”

“And stop calling me that!” Isabel barked with a frown, but more importantly, a closed fist.

Kane seemed to appear out of nowhere, grinning widely as usual. Knowing the score for the day, he quickly made himself useful by grabbing onto Isabel’s ass. The action earned a punch to the jaw that knocked him over. She then stood on his chest with one foot.

“Stop acting like a fucking pervert!” she ordered before marching off in a funk.

“Bad mood today,” Isabella commented dryly.

“Exactly!” Kane replied, holding up one hand and his index finger to emphasis his response. It was like the mood from Hell and she was wielding it with a surgeon’s precision.

“Aw, Kane, you took a pounding for me! Let’s run away together!” Victoria joked, making no move to help her “hero” off the floor or anything.

“I’d rather live to see another sunrise, thank you very much,” Kane remarked. He was certain that with the warpath Isabel was on that day, he could not even make a joke about running away with someone else, especially Victoria. It seemed that chewing out the moving men was not helping her mood either. He hoped that she eventually devoured one of their souls or something to keep her from killing him.

Victoria laughed before walking off; Isabella walked off too. Kane was left laid out on the floor. He guessed that they either did not care that he was actually hurt or they thought that he was just joking around like always. He brought his hand up to his cheek.

“I hope her mood swings aren’t this bad through the whole pregnancy,” he muttered while gently caressing his tender, bruised cheek. She was barely three months pregnant, after all. He would not be able to survive six months of such treatment. But, then again, he doubted that he would survive six months if her other habit that seemed to overtake her since her pregnancy persisted.

There was no housewarming to be had when Kane and Isabel moved into their new home. Isabella and Victoria did not stick around long, one having a match to get to and the other having a party. That left the little Go family on their own for the first time in their brand new home.

“Should we order out for something?” Kane inquired while flopping down onto the top of the couch; not the cushions, but the top of the backrest of the couch. It was a new sofa to fit in their impressively large living room. Almost everything in the house was brand new just because it was such a gigantic space to fill.

“We can order out for a new brain, as there’s something obviously wrong with yours,” Isabel replied while pushing her husband off of the couch, not to the cushioned front, but to the floor.

Kane yelped and landed with a dull thud on the light mint green carpet of the living room. Before he could really comprehend what was going on, Isabel joined him on the floor, straddling his waist. He gulped, noticing a very familiar glint in her.

“At least let me eat first to keep my strength up!” Kane begged. He never thought that such a thing would come out of his mouth, knowing what she had in store for him, but lately the woman was insatiable! He needed to keep his energy up.

“Eat? Sure, I’ll let you eat,” she promised with a demonic smirk.

Kane winced and cursed mentally. _Dammit, gotta remember to choose my words more carefully around this woman. Ah well, I’m here, she’s tasty, might as well make the most of it_.

Knowing that he was likely to be “force-fed,” he willing had his “meal” and enjoyed it quite thoroughly. His stomach did not forget that he was hungry, though and he later tried crawling to the phone, but found it difficult to do with Isabel lying on top of him. He also quickly got carpet burn on his naked butt.

“Bella … I’m still hungry!” Kane whined, hoping she would get up and walk to the phone for him, although he doubted that her legs were working any better than his right now.

“I can think of a few things for you to eat if you don’t just lie here and be quiet,” she remarked, eyes closed and head snuggled quite comfortably into his chest.

Kane decided to keep his mouth shut. Moments later, Hadrian saved him by crying, showing that he was awake. Isabel wasted no time climbing to her feet; she did stumble a bit as she put on her pants and shirt. She walked the short distance into the adjacent room, one of the dens, where Hadrian was sleeping in a playpen; they wanted him near by, but not in the same room with them in case they got a little … noisy.

She was also kind enough to order Kane some food after she got the baby. Kane suspected the kind act was to make up for the “evil” that she had in store for him later that night. He was right.

“Bella … not that I’m complaining or anything, but what the hell is with you lately?” Kane asked as his head dropped to his pillow for the night. He was covered in sweat and breathing hard.

“What do you mean?” Isabel countered curiously while making sure to curl up next to him. She smiled at the feel of his hot skin against her heated flesh.

“Okay, maybe you haven’t noticed, but ever since our trip to Vegas, you’ve been trying to fuck my brains out.”

Isabel chuckled a bit. “Don’t be silly, Kane. You don’t have a brain for me to fuck out.”

Kane sighed. She noted the tone of the sound and guessed that it was one of the times to be serious. She situated herself against him differently, putting her head on his shoulder and her arm over his stomach, hugging him like a big teddy bear.

“I don’t know what’s with me lately. I think it’s just because I’m pregnant. The first few months of being pregnant with Hadrian, I felt kind of like this too,” she explained as best she could.

“Well, you weren’t trying to screw me into the ground then,” he commented. He briefly wondered if she was doing that with someone else, but considering the fact that he was with her much of the time back then, he did not see where she would have the time or opportunity for it.

“Well, I had a lot to worry about before. I feel more … secure now,” she admitted, speaking that last part in a low voice.

He could not help smiling at that and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Well, if that’s the case, feel free to keep trying to rid me of my brain.”

“Oh, I planned to do that anyway,” she confessed with a rather scary grin, making sure to look at him.

He could not help gulping. _I’m in the grips of a succubus_ , he thought. _Ah well_.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel was leaning against the entrance to the living room, tapping her slipper-covered foot quite impatiently against the carpeted floor. Her arms were folded across her chest and a tight frown tugged at her lips. She glanced over to the object of her contempt – the phone. It happened to be in Kane’s hands.

He was on the phone with she-did-not-know who. Quite frankly, she did not care who he was on the phone with. She was not sure if he knew that she was even there. He was sitting in an armchair and speaking in a rather controlled, almost business-like manner. She was stunned that he had such a tone of voice, but she quickly got over that, feeling he had been on the phone too long. She had been standing there for a whole forty seconds.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Look, this is the way things are. I’m not going to change it just because you’re freaking out,” Kane informed the person that he was on the phone with. He paused for a second, listening to the other person and then continued. “No, I’m not going to do that either. All I want to do is what I just told you, nothing more. I want to make a will and I want to set up some trust funds. What’s so hard about that?”

Kane was quiet for a moment. His face tensed a bit. Isabel noticed; she wondered what the conversation was about and why it was upsetting her beloved so much. _Beloved? I suppose he is my beloved_. The thought made her smile for a second, but it vanished when she noticed that he was still bothered by the phone call.

“I’m not arguing this with you, Darrow. Just do it and that’s it. What the hell is the problem?” Kane inquired.

His face remained tense as he listened to the person on the other end. He started nodding, but it did not seem like he was agreeing with the person. It was more like he just needed to move and the nodding kept him calm.

“Look, I know you think you’re dealing with some dumb fucking kid, but I promise you, I’m not as dumb as I look. Just do what I say or I will find someone that will follow the orders of the fucking person that signs their checks. You don’t know more than me just because you went to law school and lawyers are a dime-a-dozen. I don’t give a damn about your fucking opinion or anything,” Kane promised the person and then he hung up the phone.

The auburn-haired young man sighed and rubbed his face with his hands, as if he was trying to wipe the frown away. Isabel had never really witnessed him being so assertive and insistent. She was not really surprised about the thought that raced through her mind, which was how hot Kane seemed when he was angry and assertive. At certain points in the day, she sometimes thought Kane just breathing was hot; her hormones were all over the place.

He seemed to sense that she was watching him. He turned to her, looking at her in her pajamas, as it was the late morning. She was wearing a simple t-shirt that barely covered anything at all. He grinned, acknowledging her, which got a smirk out of her as she sauntered over to him. She took a comfortable seat, right in his lap. They exchanged a long kiss as a morning greeting.

“Since when do you wake up early?” he asked, teasing her a bit since it was very close to noon.

“Since my pillow wanders off,” she answered, hands massaging his broad shoulders. He glanced down at her left hand before turning his attention back to her face.

“I’m a pillow? And here it is I thought I was the sex slave,” he remarked.

“You’re both. Who was that you were on the phone with?” she inquired curiously while coming in for a couple of pecks to his delicious lips.

“My lawyer. He’s whining because I just told him I got married. So, he wanted to yell at me about not getting a pre-nup. He was talking about getting something called a post-nup, but I told him it wasn’t necessary,” he replied, returning each kiss that she gave, making his response longer than it needed to be.

Isabel craned an elegant eyebrow. “It wasn’t necessary? You’re actually willing to chance your vast fortune on us being together forever?” she asked, seemingly teasing him.

“Well, I’m banking on the forever thing, but I figure that if we do get a divorce, I’d probably offer you a bunch of money that you wouldn’t take to spite the hell outta me,” he commented with a grin.

She smiled in return. “You’re probably right. How’d this come up in a conversation, though?”

“Well, I called him because I want to get a will and I want to set up trust funds for our kids. You should probably get a will done too, unless you already have one.”

“No, it never crossed my mind to get one. When you go to get yours made up, I’ll go with you and get one too, although I figure that if I die, Mommy will take care of everything, even if the state wants to try to stick its nose into my affairs,” she remarked.

“I pity the state if they try.”

Isabel nodded and then she went in for another, deeper kiss. Kane did not resist her. He wrapped his arms around to keep her steady. She rolled her hips against him. He chuckled a bit as they pulled away for air.

“You want sex again, don’t you?”

“Yes, please,” she replied with quite the cute smile. Apparently, the hormones made her horny and playful that morning. Well, she hoped that it was the hormones that were making her as cheerful and playful as she was.

“How long do you think you’ll be like that?” he inquired curiously. He was not too sure if he meant the mood swings or the insane desire for physical intimacy that she had. He did know that at least one of the two would be the death of him if they both lasted the whole pregnancy.

“Well, with Hadrian, it passed around four or five months in. But, I should probably warn you, the feeling is much more intense now than it ever was when I was pregnant with Hadrian,” she informed him.

Kane sighed; she was actually going to fuck him to death. As usual, he accepted his fate; he also enjoyed every second of it, as usual. It was a good thing he was getting a will made as soon as possible.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kane and Isabel welcome the latest addition of their family into the world.


	10. Precious arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian and Sheshona; they belong to Disney. I do own Kane, Isabel, and her mother and sister. I also don’t own Star Wars.

9: Precious arrival 

“Kane …” Isabel muttered as her eyes fluttered open. She had been sleeping. It was not a great sleep, but they had hardly been that since her pregnancy started to show. She disliked not being able to sleep on her stomach or curl up next to Kane like she used to.

Kane groaned, a sign that he was aware of her talking to him. “No, Bella,” he replied, thinking that she was requesting sex once again. He had stopped giving into the request when her stomach started bulging. It was then that he became so aware that their child was in there that the idea of putting himself inside of Isabel and possibly disturbing their child entered his mind. Even now, it caused him to shudder.

“It’s not that …” she said, turning to hit him, so that he would get up. She clocked him good in the center of his chest with her knuckles.

“Ow! What? What is it?” he inquired while sitting up and turning to face her. His face then suddenly scrunched up. “Why’s my legs wet?” he asked curiously.

“That’s the thing. My water just broke.”

Kane, still not completely coherent, sighed in relief. “For a second, I thought I actually peed in the bed—Your water broke?! Holy shit, we’ve got to get you to the hospital!”

The young man practically flew out of bed without much purpose or direction thanks to how nervous he was. Isabel figured that when the moment came to go to the hospital, Kane would panic, so she had had them practice the situation over and over again the past couple of weeks. Kane seemed to have forgotten all of that because he was panicking and not doing anything that they had planned.

The short male was stumbling around the room, yet not grabbing anything. Isabel looked around and grabbed a cup that she used when she woke up thirsty in the middle of the night; it was thankfully empty. She chucked it at her husband, nailing him right in the shoulder.

“Ow!” Kane complained while turning his attention to the bed.

“Focus!” she ordered.

“Right, right, right!”

Kane ran his hand through his mess hair and at least started to focus on the task at hand. The only problem now was that he was moving at his usual pace. She quickly found something else to throw at him, hitting him right in the side of the head; she threw the lamp at him.

“Bella, what the hell?” Kane grumbled, touching the side of his head, noting that he was bleeding.

“I’m having a baby and you’re moving at the speed of a slug to get me to the hospital! Move your fucking ass or you’ll be sorry!” she barked.

Kane grumbled and started moving, just not fast enough. He was hit in the head with a couple of other items before he was moving at a satisfying speed for his mate. He hustled her down the car with her bag and then charged back into the house to get Hadrian. With that, they were off to the hospital. Isabel was taken from him while he waited for her mother and sister.

“You’re going in, Kane?” Isabella asked as she and Victoria arrived at the hospital.

“Yup! I was just waiting for you guys, so someone would be able to watch the little prince,” Kane informed the pair and then he handed Hadrian over to his grandmother.

“Gran’ma!” the toddler cheered while throwing his arms around her. Isabella was so close to smiling that her eyes actually shined.

“Why the hell is he always so happy to see you when I’m right here?” Victoria practically wailed since her nephew did not even seem to notice that she was there.

Kane did not stick around and went to join his wife as she gave birth to their baby. Isabella and Victoria watched him go. They then turned to each other.

“Was his eyebrow split open?” Victoria asked her mother, just to be sure.

“Yes, it was,” Isabella answered calmly.

“Izzie is going to kill the little guy one day soon,” the blonde thought aloud, knowing her sister was the one that injured Kane.

Isabella’s tone and expression remained the same. “Probably.” 

-8-8-8-8-

“Never again,” Isabel silently vowed in her hospital bed. “Even though you are quite precious,” she added in a low voice, speaking to her newborn daughter. She was close to grinning as she held her child. Pride seemed to radiate from her as her eyes never left her beautiful baby girl. 

“Hey,” Victoria greeted her sister as she, her mother, and Hadrian entered the room. The blonde looked around for a moment and spotted Kane sulking in the corner. “What’s with him?” she asked curiously, jabbing her thumb in his direction. She would have expected him to be over at the bed, gushing over his child; the one that he was certain was his.

“He’s just mad because I’m not letting him name the baby,” Isabel explained in a dismissive tone.

“I wanna name my daughter!” Kane practically cried in the corner. 

“You had a baby girl? Ohh! I have a niece!” Victoria squealed as she charged over to see the child. The ebony hair was already familiar, as were the green eyes and the surprising “what the hell are you looking at?” expression in those eyes. “Dear god, Izzie cloned herself …” she muttered with a shudder.

“Well, if Kane won’t be naming the child, I take it that you have decided on a name, Izzie,” Isabella commented.

Isabel nodded. She had already decided on the name that she wanted to give the child; she had decided it a long time ago. Besides, she felt like it was her turn to name her child since Kane had gotten his say on their son.

“I get to name the next one!” Kane declared, still pouting at the end of the room. He puffed out his chest, as if that would force his wife to let him name their next child.

“There won’t be a next one,” Isabel proclaimed with her typical confidence.

Kane rolled his eyes. Isabella glanced at him, chuckling a little to herself. She then went over to the hospital bed with Hadrian in her arms.

“Your baby sister,” Isabella introduced the toddler to the baby.

“Mine!” Hadrian grinned; it would seem that Kane was rubbing off on him already. It was amazing to his grandmother and aunt that he actually looked like Kane when he grinned.

“He’s very enthused to have a baby sister. So unlike his mother when she was in this situation,” Isabella remarked blandly.

“What do you mean? Izzie didn’t want me around?” Victoria inquired, frowning as she realized that was exactly what her mother meant. “How could my own big sister not want me around?!”

“Didn’t want you around? She begged me to leave you in the hospital,” Isabella informed her younger daughter.

Isabel sighed, knowing her mother was looking to start trouble and she did quite the good job of it. Victoria started ranting about how Isabel mistreated her, getting Kane to join in to voice his misery. A nurse actually had to come in and flat out told them to shut up. Victoria gave the nurse the finger as she left.

“You’re going to get us thrown out of the hospital,” the elder sister said to the blonde.

Victoria shrugged. “It wouldn’t be for the first time and it’s not like I’d be the only one that’s done it.”

Isabel shrugged, unable to call her a liar on that one. They decided to settle down since getting kicked out of the hospital would not be the wisest move at the moment. They all marveled over the new baby, especially Hadrian.

“Mine!” the new brother grinned again while poking his baby sister with a chubby one-year-old finger.

“Well, it seems the little prince will be quite the big brother if his attitude is any indication of things,” Kane proclaimed proudly with a smile.

“That’s good. I don’t want to have to deal with baby fights,” Isabel commented. Toddler fights would be another matter, though, but she had time before the newborn was ready for that.

“So, what are we calling her?” Victoria asked, referring to the baby.

“Sheshona Isabella Go,” Isabel answered.

“Go? No ‘Han’?” Isabella inquired in a curious voice with an arched eyebrow. There was a displeased frown tugging harshly on her lips. Was it wrong to want her grandchildren to bear her family name? She had some hope with Hadrian, but when Isabel got married, she changed Hadrian’s last name right along with her own. She suspected it was for Kane to help him feel more secure, but she did not care; she wanted her grandchildren to have her family name.

“I don’t think she’ll want to walk around with the last name ‘Go-Han’,” Isabel replied in a dry tone.

“Han-Go?” Victoria wondered aloud and then shook her head. She chuckled a bit. “Yeah, this isn’t a good combination at all.”

“It just says it on her birth certificate. She can walk around with whatever name she wants,” Kane commented with a shrug.

“Besides, she’ll know she’s a Han, just like Hadrian will know,” Isabel pointed out. There was no escaping that legacy, not that anyone ever seemed to want to.

Her statement could not be argued, so it was not argued. Soon, the family was back at home. Isabel and Kane were stunned to see that Hadrian was very much attached to little Sheshona, as well as being quite amazed by her. Being only a little over year old, Hadrian did not have quite the vocabulary to express how impressed he was with the baby, but they could see it in his sapphire blue eyes and how those eyes never left his sister.

“Mine,” Hadrian said, pointing to his sister. He was in Kane’s arms while Isabel was carrying Sheshona. They were going to the baby’s room for the first time.

“Should I start getting disturbed by this attachment already?” Kane joked.

Isabel glared at him, getting his demented joke. “You’re lucky you’re holding him or I swear to all that is unholy I would be killing you right now for a joke like that.”

Kane just grinned. They made it to the baby’s room before Kane said something that even Hadrian could not protect him from. After all, Isabel was likely to remember that the toddler could stand on his own, order Kane to put him down, and then proceed to beat him to death with one hand while still holding their daughter.

The nursery was painted an eye-catching canary yellow and a warm pink; the yellow half on the top and the pink half on the bottom. There were also pictures of little animals on the wall. There was bookshelf, full of children’s books on the back wall, and next to that, there was a rocking chair. The crib was located on the left wall; it was Hadrian’s old crib. He slept in a little bed now with a guardrail.

Isabel gently put Sheshona down in the crib, which was lined with white covers and yellow pillows. The little girl made a noise, but nothing overly loud. She focused her green eyes on the three people looming over her now. Her parents noted that she did have a “what the hell is going on?” kind of stare going on.

“Play?” Hadrian asked, looking back and forth between his parents while pointing at the baby. He wanted to play with his sister.

“Not yet, buddy. She’s not big enough to play,” Kane answered while mussing Hadrian’s ebony hair.

“No play?” Hadrian pouted. He leaned down to grab the bars of the crib. “Play!” he pled with his little sister.

“Later on, little prince. She’ll be able to play soon,” Isabel tried to assure him because he seemed quite upset that Sheshona was not getting up to play with him.

“Play now,” Hadrian begged, speaking to the baby. Sheshona looked quite clueless, obviously not understanding her big brother.

“She’ll play soon,” Kane promised him and decided that it was time to get Hadrian out of the room before he tried to jump into the crib.

-8-8-8-8-

“Soon” came a lot sooner than the young parents expected. Sheshona ended up walking earlier than they had anticipated; who the hell knew she would walk at nine months? It was not great walking, but it was enough to get her around and that was enough for her big brother. He was then capable of getting her into all sorts of things, which he did proudly.

-8-8-8-8-

“Oh, my fucking god! How the fuck did you get there?!” Kane shouted as he walked into the dining room to see Sheshona standing on the table. Hadrian was on the floor with his arms out.

“Okay, ‘Shona, jump!” Hadrian urged her. The plan was that Sheshona would try to fly and if it did not work out, he would catch her. He had already tried and had fallen flat on his face, which was why he now knew to be ready to catch his baby sister in case she could not do it.

“‘Kay!” Sheshona agreed with a grin; she was close to a year old now. She spoke a few words, but nothing really complex … although she had perfected the phrase “hell, no” already. Kane thought it might be genetic.

Kane knew that he would not be able to close the distance between the dining room entrance and the end of the table in time. He bit his lip to the point of bleeding when Sheshona belly-flopped off of the table. Kane closed one eye as his daughter flew like a lead balloon and landed with all the grace of a dead bird on her brother. They both made a gagging noise as they hit the floor. Thankfully, neither of them were big on crying, so he did not have to worry about that.

“Izzie is going to kill me when she comes home,” Kane decided. He could already hear the lecture coming about how it was his fault that the kids did such insane things because he was always watching crazy movies with them or telling them crazy stories or showing them how to do crazy things. He had to concede some points, like maybe showing them to ride a tray down the stairs probably was not the best bit of fathering that he had done lately.

Hadrian and Sheshona were still laid out on the floor when their father approached. He sighed; to think, before Sheshona could walk, she was actually quite the good child. She did not make much noise unless she needed something, she did not throw things, and she sat still for the most part, especially if her brother was doing the same. Now, she was like the embodiment of madness … Hadrian’s madness no less.

“So, what’ve we learned?” Kane asked the two without bothering to help them.

“Uh … can’t fly?” Hadrian guessed while rubbing his now hurting head.

“Doy! Who are the only ones that can fly?” Kane inquired.

“Uh … birdies!” Sheshona replied with a grin, obviously knowing that was a right answer. Giving a correct answered helped her forget about the pain in her chest from landing on her brother.

“Birdies, yes. Who else?” Kane asked.

Sheshona thought on it, wanting another positive response from her father. Hadrian thought on it too. Who else flew?

“Superman!” Hadrian answered with a bright smile of his own.

“Yeah, he does too. Now, who doesn’t fly?” the father asked.

“Hmm …” the siblings thought on it. The big brother answered it first. “Us!”

“Exactly!” Kane grinned. “So, let’s stop trying,” he suggested.

“But, you and Mommy say no quitting,” the elder sibling replied.

“Dammit,” Kane muttered. He and Isabel had been cursed with kids that actually listened … too bad they interpreted things in the wrong way.

“Dammit,” Sheshona echoed. She grinned when her father’s eyes went to her, taking pride in being able to repeat after him.

“I’ll be sure to blame that on your mommy if you keep saying it. C’mon, you two, let’s watch some cartoons until your mom comes in and makes us some lunch,” Kane urged.

“Cartoons!” Hadrian cheered.

The boy was on his feet in a flash and then he helped his sister up. They followed their father into the huge living room. They climbed onto the black leather sofa while Kane went to put in a video for them. He then joined them on the couch and they watched one of the many cartoon movies in their collection.

The kids did not move as the sound of the door opened and closed, but Kane did at least turn his head. He had a brief debate internally on if he should get up and greet Isabel, but he had never done it before when she was out. _Why start now?_

“Not more cartoons,” Isabel groaned as she entered the living room. It was like she was begging her family, even though that was not going to get her anyway.

“Of course,” Kane answered with a grin.

“This is why they keep doing silly things. You have their minds pumped full of these awful cartoons,” she scolded him.

Kane pouted because of the reprimand; he looked quite like the kicked puppy that he used to think he was. Isabel sighed and rolled her eyes. Their children did not pay them any mind, enthralled with the television.

Isabel decided to join the family gathering, sitting on Kane instead of the empty spaces on the couch. Kane did not complain and automatically wrapped his arms around her when she was secure in his lap. She rested her head against his. The kids still did not pay them any mind.

“So, what happened?” Kane asked curiously.

“Shh! Daddy, talking through good parts!” Hadrian complained while Sheshona glared at their father to show that she shared her brother’s sentiments.

Kane gave them same courtesy that he would extent to their mother, pouting deeply from being so thoroughly reprimanded. The children nodded triumphantly to each other before turning their attention back to the television. Isabel smiled and leaned down some to whisper her answer in her husband’s ear.

“I’ll tell you later,” she promised.

Kane nodded to show that he agreed and understood that response. Isabel remained as she was, but she did not pay attention to what was on the television. She often found herself on the outside when it came to shows with her family. The children had a love for cartoons, of course, but they liked comic-book hero cartoons. Isabel was never into comics, but was not very shocked the find out that her husband was.

“I’m married to such a nerd,” Isabel teased him, having the nerve to whisper that in his ear as seductively as possible. She blew gently into his ear when she was done speaking.

Kane exhaled slowly, tightened his grip on his wife, and kept his attention on the television. The kids eventually worked their way to being draped on Kane, too. Apparently, he was the best seat in the house. If only there were more of him to go around.

“Kane, let me go, so I can order us some lunch,” Isabel said after almost an hour of relaxing.

Kane did not argue, but Hadrian and Sheshona were ready to protest. They were leaning against her as well as on Kane. They grabbed onto her as she was about to get up and clutched her tightly with the hope that it would get her to stay.

“Mommy!” both children whined.

“Let me go, you two, or we won’t be having lunch and I know you two can’t last without eating all the way to dinner time,” Isabel informed them.

They continued to whine, but she got up anyway. Kane repositioned them, so that they were resting completely on him. He hoped that that would soothe them and get them to stop complaining because he damn sure knew that he would not be able to make it to dinner without anything to eat.

“Mommy,” the two called out again.

“Let Mommy order lunch. You guys know you’re way too greedy to last long without any food,” Kane reminded them.

The children pouted, but they did not put up an argument because they were well aware that their father had a point. They decided to reposition themselves on Kane instead if putting up a fuss. That did not last long because Isabel came back when she was done and she wanted her seat back.

The kids whined as Isabel edged them off of Kane, so that she could sit back on his lap. The small duo made faces at their mommy until she was settled down and they could go back to how they were sitting before she got up. They were all quiet as the movie continued to play.

The sound of the doorbell chiming disturbed them. Kane thought that Isabel would get up to answer it, but upon closer inspection, he saw that she was sleeping quite peacefully on him. He then turned his eyes toward the kids, who were grinning up at him. He knew just why he was getting that look.

“Fine, go get the door, munchkins,” he told them.

Hadrian and Sheshona hopped up with, grins still intact. They leaped off of the couch as if they were jumping out of a high tree and charged over to the door; Sheshona fell quite a few times, but her big brother helped her up. They made it to the door and then hit a snag in the place; Sheshona could not reach the doorknob and Hadrian, who could reach, did not know how to unlock the door.

“Daddy, helps!” Hadrian called while his little sister tried jumping for the doorknob. 

Kane chuckled and decided to come to the rescue, as he usually did not do; Isabel was the rescuer while he typically got the kids into trouble. He tried to ease Isabel off of him, but she did not seem to be in favor of that idea. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, refusing to be moved and remaining asleep. He chuckled.

“I guess you’re coming with me then,” he muttered to himself while Hadrian continued to call for “helps.”

Kane laughed more when he came across the scene of Hadrian and Sheshona trying to open the door on their own. Hadrian got down on all fours and Sheshona was standing on his back, trying to balance herself on an uneven platform with already wobbly legs. It was not surprising when the younger child took a spill, banging her shoulder on the floor as she crashed.

Kane was about to rush over to his daughter when he saw tears gathering in her eyes, but Hadrian was there already. He helped Sheshona up and rubbed her shoulder for her. The actions kept the baby from crying, but the pain remained; only a magical kiss from Mommy could make the agony immediately vanish and Mommy was asleep right now, so that would not be coming.

Kane took his time and went to the door. He opened it and stepped to the side, so it seemed like the kids were the ones that answered the door. The deliveryman thought that the door opened by itself at first.

“Hi!” Hadrian brightly greeted the man while Sheshona waved.

The guy jumped back, surprised by the noise. He turned his attention down to the now giggling children. For a moment, he wondered what was going on, but then he noticed a finger poking Hadrian from behind the door. He guessed that some rich parent was indulging the children; he was not far off.

“Um … foods!” Hadrian declared, knowing that he was supposed to say something and that was why his father was prodding him. He just could not remember what his parents usually said when they answered the door when meals were delivered.

“Thank you, how much do I owe you,” Kane whispered to the boy while trying his best not to burst into a laughing fit himself.

“Oh! Thanks you, how much?” Hadrian inquired, attention on the deliveryman again. Sheshona was looking back and forth between the door and her father. She had a finger to her mouth, as if she was pondering something.

“No moneys!” Sheshona suddenly shouted, realizing that she and her brother were supposed to pay the deliveryman. She turned her attention to her father. “No moneys,” she repeated and she held out her hand, signaling that her father needed to give them cash.

Kane held up his hand, silently telling Sheshona to hold on. He was still trying his best not to laugh; he thought it was too cute the way that the kids pluralized almost everything. He was waiting for them to start saying “youse,” so that he could refer to them as the two-foot mafia.

“Find out how much first,” the auburn-haired male told his offspring.

Hadrian and Sheshona nodded to show that they understood. They turned their attention back to the deliveryman, who was being surprisingly patient with them. He could not help it; the kids were damn adorable.

“Okays. How much, sirs?” Hadrian asked again, pulling out the manners that his mother had been drilling into his head already.

“Fifteen dollars will cover it,” the deliveryman informed them.

A hand appeared, holding a single twenty-dollar bill. The money was not handed to the deliveryman, but to Hadrian. The child inspected the money and showed it to his sister. She nodded, giving her consent apparently. Once they certain of the money, they turned to the deliveryman and held up the twenty dollars for him.

“Here’s you goes,” Hadrian informed him.

“Thank you very much, kind sir,” the deliveryman said with a chuckle. He accepted the money, but then looked at the children. He was not sure if he should hand them the two bags of food that had been ordered. They did not look like they could handle it.

“Daddy, he’s not givin’ the foods,” Hadrian told his father.

“It’s cool to hand it to them. They can handle it. They don’t wanna upset their Mommy, after all,” Kane said, keeping his hiding place. Besides, it was not like he could carry the bags.

The deliveryman shrugged; it was their meal. He handed a bag each to the children. They happily bid him farewell and Kane kicked the door shut. The kids carried the food to the dining room, having to climb into the chairs to put the bags on the table. Kane watched carefully, ready to keep them from making a mess.

“Bella, wake up for food,” Kane whispered into his wife’s ear.

“I don’t wanna …” Isabel mumbled, nuzzling into Kane’s neck.

“You can sleep on me later. Get up for food,” he gently urged her.

Isabel sucked her teeth, but opened her eyes. Lately, she fell asleep whenever she was not moving and happened to be resting against Kane. He thought that she might be working herself too hard since she was so glad to be able to get her schedule back together after the birth of Sheshona.

“Hadrian, Shona, no elbows on the table,” Isabel gently barked at them as Kane put her down into a chair.

“But, can’t reach!” Hadrian complained while his sister quickly eased her butt into the chair. She could not even see over the table.

Isabel got up from her chair and grabbed Sheshona. She sat the baby on her lap because Sheshona refused to sit in a highchair and would go so far as to tip it over if she was placed in it; to hell with injuring herself, apparently. Kane helped Hadrian out, getting a phonebook for him to sit on, so that he could reach.

Kane then took everything out of the bags, wondering what Isabel had ordered. It smelled like hamburgers, which put an eager grin on his face. Hadrian must have smelled the same because he started fidgeting and grinning too.

The father and son actually grinned wider when they saw Isabel had ordered hamburgers for them. The pair had hamburgers, fries, and a couple of pickles each. Isabel had a chicken salad, which she allowed Sheshona to pick in, even though the baby had her own little meal. Sheshona had two chicken fingers and applesauce, but she liked picking in her mother’s food too.

Sheshona more than likely got the habit from those around her. Hadrian and Kane were eating each other’s food more than their own; Hadrian going so far as to take a bite out of his father’s burger anytime Kane put it low enough for the child to reach. But, father and children were not the only pickers in the family.

Isabel was not above picking at Kane’s meals much of the time. Sheshona saw those habits and seemed to have adopted them as her own. So, while on her mother’s lap, she grabbed for things on her mother’s plate. She was very partial to tomatoes, which Isabel ordered extras of just for the child.

“Mommy,” Sheshona said while pushing a piece of chicken that she had already bitten into her mother’s mouth.

Isabel did not hesitate in eating the food. Sheshona smiled and fed her mother some more chicken. Isabel decided to take a page from Sheshona’s book to make sure that the child ate her own food too. She took the spoon in the applesauce and put it to Sheshona’s mouth. Sheshona ate that and went about her business of feeding her mother chicken.

After the meal, they all went back to what they were doing before. Watching cartoons in the kids’ case, sleeping on Kane in Isabel’s case, and being used as a piece of furniture in Kane’s case. That lasted until the movie was over.

“Play!” the kids suddenly screamed while jumping off of the couch. They charged for the backdoor, wanting to go into the backyard it seemed.

Isabel woke up just in time to follow them and prevent them from trying to open the door on their own. They charged out as soon as the door was open. The backyard was wide, as to be expected with the size of the house. There were a few trees; one of which had a tire swing in it. There was playground equipment, which included three regular swings, a slide, and monkey bars.

A sandbox sat a little off from the other things; Hadrian and Sheshona really did not like it. Isabel suspected that had something to do with the fact that Kane told them sandworms lived in it and the worms would sneak up on them to eat their legs if they were not careful. She doubted it helped that he then tricked the kids into thinking that a worm had nipped them.

Kane followed the kids outside, getting tackled as soon as he hit the grass. He felt little fists pounding into his abdomen as soon as he fell to the ground. He pretended that it hurt, but quickly got back up.

“You dare take on the dark lord Kane!” the father hollered in a booming voice, doing an impersonation of a villain as best he could.

“No more Star Wars for him,” Isabel muttered to herself. It was actually quite the punishment for her secretly nerdy husband.

Isabel watched Kane roughhouse with the kids until he wore them out. He was a good practice dummy for Hadrian, who she had already started teaching martial arts too. She was going to get her hands on Sheshona soon too since the girl could walk and obviously comprehend things now. Kane had already taken to showing the baby boxing moves.

Isabel was actually surprised a bit when she found out that her husband was a boxer. She always thought that he was a martial artist from the way that he moved, but he admitted to only “dabbling” in martial arts. He was fond of boxing, though. 

“Here ya go, two totally worn out munchkins,” Kane declared with a proud grin while giving the children over to Isabel. 

“You really need to find another way to get them to take a nap before you end up losing your teeth,” Isabel commented, referring to her husband’s busted lip. 

Kane only smiled. He did not mind the roughhousing and he knew that Isabel liked seeing their kids go at him, too. It was good for them to know that their kids were fearless, although they kind of knew that most kids were fearless. They just wanted to keep that sense there and they wanted the kids to always defend themselves rather than run away.

Isabel took the kids to their rooms and put them down in their beds. They knew that they had the rest of the afternoon to themselves. Isabel returned to Kane, finding him on the sofa again. She took her seat on him once more, sitting in his lap and wrapping her arms around him.

“So, what happened?” Kane asked curiously.

Isabel did not respond. She leaned in and initiated a deep kiss. Kane, never one to back down, returned the kiss with as much passion as he could muster. Isabel took his hand that was resting on her hip and placed it on her breast. She then ground her hips against him. After about a minute, she pulled away.

He had to catch his breath before doing anything else; something about that kiss felt familiar. It was not like her usual, heated, delicious kisses. There was something more to it and then he noticed the seductive, yet coy look in her eyes.

“You want sex, don’t you?” he asked in almost quiet and shy voice.

“Yes, please,” she answered with a smile.

“So, you are pregnant, huh?” he inquired. He suspected as much, which was why he pushed her to go to the doctor earlier in the day.

“Eight weeks. I blame you,” she replied.

“Well, I’ll take half the blame, but I’m never in this thing alone. In fact, for this to happen, I definitely have to be in you, meaning you have to let me in,” he remarked with a cheeky grin.

“Shut up. You did this to me, end of story. Now, since you did this to me, you owe me.” 

“Is that how it works? Note to self: get Isabel pregnant more often …” he joked, earning a slap in the side of the head.

“No, stop getting Isabel pregnant. I just had Shona and now I’m pregnant again,” she seemed to complain. It was hard to believe that she was complaining when she was smiling a bit.

“Well, look at it this way, this will be the easiest kid so far.”

She whacked him again. She decided to shut him up and kiss him. He did not resist, of course. She practically ripped his clothes off, both out of physical desire and being pressed for time. The last thing she wanted was for one or both of the kids to come down stairs while she was doing indecent things to Kane on the couch. It did not help matters that Hadrian was not afraid to investigate if he heard strange noises.

Luckily, the kids made a lot of noise when they woke up, so Kane and Isabel knew when it was time for them to get off of the sofa and get dressed. That night, the parents informed the children about Isabel being pregnant. Sheshona looked confused, which they expected since she was not even a year old yet. Hadrian knew what it meant, though.

“Another sister?” the boy asked with hope in his eyes and voice while pointing to his mother’s stomach.

“Maybe, but you might get a brother this time around. You never know,” Kane told the child.

“Brother?” Hadrian echoed and then he nodded. Maybe a brother would not be so bad, but he secretly hoped for a sister. He already knew that having a sister was fun, after all. He was not too sure what a brother might bring to the table.

“Brother?” Sheshona echoed too. She cutely scratched the side of her head while sitting down on her mother’s lap. She looked deep in thought. Kane laughed and rubbed the top of her head.

“I told you we’d have a tribe, Bella,” Kane boasted with a grin.

“This is the last one,” Isabel vowed. Kane only gave her a smirk that seemed to say, “we’ll see.” 

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: Jason comes back into the story. What could he bring to the young family?


	11. Coming back to bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian or Sheshona; they belong to Disney. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Jason.

10: Coming back to bite

“Bella, the phone,” Kane reported as he picked up the aforementioned object and held it out for his beloved, who was lounging on the sofa and watching Hadrian and Sheshona mimic martial arts stances that she recently taught them.

“Who is it?” Isabel asked curiously, hand lazily rubbing her slightly swollen abdomen. She was showing enough for someone to guess that she was pregnant. One of her favorite pastimes now seemed to be rubbing her stomach.

“Some guy named Jason,” Kane answered with a shrug. He did not think anything of a man calling his wife for the simple fact that Isabel’s business had her typically dealing with men. In actuality, Kane was typically more shocked if a woman called to speak with Isabel than a man.

“Jason?” Isabel echoed as if she did not understand the name. Her face scrunched up and twisted into something so foreign that Sheshona started laughing.

“Funny face!” the little girl declared while pointing to her mother.

Isabel ignored her daughter’s outburst, although it should have earned the child a scolding for the simple fact that she broke her stance. Isabel was too puzzled by the call to think about reprimanding the girl, though. Hadrian pulled Sheshona back in line while Isabel accepted the phone from her husband.

She wondered, _could it be Jason Gooding?_ She had not dealt with him since Hadrian was born, which was almost three years ago. She did not see why he would be calling her now. She did not know any other Jason, though. She considered that someone could have recommended her out, though, and the Jason calling her could be a stranger, hopefully looking to offer her some work.

Yes, Isabel still worked even though she was pregnant. She just did not work as long as she used to. Doing fight choreography was something that she felt that she could do no matter what her state. She did, however, stop street fighting since finding out that she was pregnant.

“Hey,” Isabel answered the phone in a blunt tone. It was generally how she answered the phone and people that dealt with her were used to it.

“Isabel?” a hauntingly familiar voice asked.

Isabel’s expression dropped while her body tensed. Her children regarded her with curious expressions, letting her know that her demeanor had taken a clear nosedive if they could tell. She waved them off, also signaling that they needed to continue doing what they were doing. She glanced over at Kane, who was looming behind her with an interested look in his eyes. She wondered if she should venture speaking to Jason with Kane in the room. She supposed that she did not have a choice because leaving would look suspicious considering the fact that she never left the room to take a phone call before.

“How’d you get my number?” Isabel demanded with a growl. The house had two separate lines; business calls came on the extra one. She was on the business line right now, so at least he did not have her private number. _But still, who the hell gave him my business number?! As soon as I find out who did, they’re dead!_

“You’re a hard woman to catch up with,” Jason commented, not sounding amused, but not sounding quite angry either. It was as if he was simply stating a fact.

“Maybe I didn’t want someone like you to catch me,” she remarked, not that she thought he would bother chasing. She really did not want him to chase her, especially now.

“Same Isabel, snippy as ever,” he stated. Now, he did sound amused, almost smug. She dismissed his tone.

“What is it you are calling for?” she pressed, ignoring the stares coming from her family. Their eyes seemed to want to know what was upsetting her so much.

“I was told that I should contact you because of a certain child.”

Isabel froze. _He can’t possibly be referring to Hadrian_ , she told herself. He left her and Hadrian and Kane had claimed Hadrian as his own. Kane seemed to be utterly convinced that Hadrian was his son, enough so to name the boy, not just Hadrian, but the boy had the last name “Go.” Kane was listed as the father on Hadrian’s birth certificate. Hadrian was Kane’s little prince. Jason could not show up now, messing up their family atmosphere.

“I don’t have any business with you, Jason,” Isabel stated soundly.

“I’ve been told otherwise. If that boy is my son, then I should get to spend time with him,” Jason argued in a strong, determined voice that made it seem like he would not stand for things going any way but his way. There was an edge in his tone that indicated that he was losing patience.

“You didn’t want to spend time with him before. You didn’t want to spend time with him when he was growing in my womb. You didn’t want to spent time with him when he was born. So, why do you want to spend time with him now?” she demanded, another growl escaping her throat.

Kane’s eyebrow arched; _who the hell is she on the phone with?_ They certainly were not talking business as far as he could tell. _Sounds like they’re talking about my son_. He hated to consider whom she was speaking with because then he was going to have to fight down the urge to grab the phone and start a scene within his own home.

“If that is my son, I have a right to spend time with him!” Jason stated, almost screaming in her ear.

“You don’t have any rights! You lost those the second you disappeared, the very second you turned your back and walked away. You didn’t give a damn then, so stop pretending to give a damn now!” Isabel ordered heatedly. She would not allow him to ruin her family.

“Bella, calm down,” Kane said as he came around to the other side of the sofa. He put his hand on her stomach, reminding her of the baby.

“Kane, can I have a few minutes alone?” Isabel requested through clenched teeth. She wanted a chance to express herself to Jason without having to worry about what she might say in front of her family.

Kane nodded. “Sure thing. Come on, munchkins. Let’s go jump out of the tree in the backyard,” he suggested, which earned him cheers from the two children.

Hadrian and Sheshona practically flew to the backdoor. Kane gave his wife a supportive kiss to the cheek before marching off behind the kids. Isabel sighed and turned her attention back to the phone rather than worrying about how Kane was going to kill their children.

“You know you have a lot of fucking nerves calling here after all this time demanding fucking time with a child you never fucking met and you didn’t fucking want,” Isabel pretty much roared into the phone, but did it in a surprisingly controlled manner.

“If that’s my son, I have a right to see him,” Jason stated again.

“You lost that right when you walked out on us, boy. We moved on. You can’t just interject yourself into his life and not think you’re going to hurt him or confuse him or bother him. Besides, what makes you think he’s your son?” she inquired. He did not seem all that concerned before about Hadrian being his, but now he was making a big stink about it when, as far as she was concerned, it was no longer true. Hadrian was Kane’s, just like Sheshona was Kane’s, just like the little one growing inside of her was Kane’s; those were _his_ babies. Her children were Kane’s children.

“I’ve heard through mutual friends that he looks just like me. Don’t try to deny it,” Jason ordered.

Isabel was silent for a moment. As time passed, Hadrian did continue to look like Jason. He was taking on some of Kane’s attributes, but she figured that was because the boy was around Kane so much. It was fairly easy for people to see that Hadrian was Jason’s son, or so they made it seem when speaking to him.

“You’re not his father. You don’t have to trouble yourself with him,” Isabel informed her former lover.

“You weren’t saying that before.”

“Before was almost three years ago! You walked away. We don’t need you anymore.”

“Isabel, if you want to be stubborn about this, we could easily go to court.” He spoke those words as if they were a deadly threat.

Isabel was a breath away from taking him up on that challenge, but then she stopped and thought about it. She could imagine trying to fight Jason in court over the rights to see Hadrian. He was a white, middle-class, college student and to make matters worse, he was a star football player. She was none of the above, but she _was_ plenty of other things that would not fit well with a judge. She doubted that it would help matters that Hadrian did look like Jason or the fact that back when she was pregnant with Hadrian, she was certain that the pregnancy was a result of time that she spent with Jason.

She rubbed her forehead, searching her brain for something; she was not sure what. Aside from the fact that she considered that she could not win in court against Jason, she did think about how it would affect her children to put them through such a thing. She did not want to harm them mentally or emotionally. She imagined that Kane would not even allow her to put herself through such trouble because of the pregnancy. She also did not want to put Kane through such turmoil.

“Leave your number, Jason. I’ll call you back in a couple of days,” Isabel promised in a flat tone. She needed to talk things over with Kane to find out what he thought on it. After all, Hadrian was his son, too.

“Why?” he demanded in a gruff tone.

“Dammit, just leave the fucking number or I’ll just hang the fuck up right now and never take a call from you again,” she replied with a huff.

Jason, remembering that tone of voice apparently, did as ordered. Isabel sighed as she reached out to put the phone back on the cradle. She closed her eyes and wondered how she was going to approach the subject with Kane. _What will he say? What will he do?_

“He’s going to get all serious or something …” Isabel frowned. She hated it when Kane was serious, despite the fact that she seemed to hate when he was being immature and playful, too.

Isabel remained on the sofa for a few more minutes before deciding to go check on her “darling” husband and the children. As expected, Kane had them doing something incredibly stupid. He was helping them up to high tree branches and just letting them hang there until they could not support themselves anymore. He then just let them drop to the ground; they were not really falling far, only a couple of feet, but that short distance was more than enough to freak out any mother of toddlers.

“Kane!” Isabel barked.

He knew that tone well, so he flinched before turning around. A big, apologetic grin was already in place, but that did not save him from being slapped in the head. The children laughed, thinking that it was hilarious to see their mother hitting their father.

“Bella, they’re not hurt!” Kane pointed out. The kids were sitting in the dirt, having fallen from their branches seconds ago.

“Stop being so careless with them!” Isabel ordered while leaning down to pick Sheshona up and she took Hadrian by the hand. With her hands full, Kane knew that he could not be hit anymore. _Time to say something stupid and get out of serious trouble, but into fake trouble!_

“Can I be careless with other things then?” Kane then reached out and gripped his wife’s plump ass.

Isabel turned around to glare at him. He merely offered her the wide, cheeky grin he was pretty much known for. She practically growled.

“Pervert,” Isabel hissed.

“Pervert,” Sheshona echoed, as she had the habit of doing. She pretty much parroted her parents when they spoke and she was close by.

“I hope she stops using that word by the time she goes to school,” Kane remarked under his breath. The last thing he needed was for someone wondering why his barely year old daughter was calling him a pervert.

The rest of the day was normal, which meant that there was a lot of yelling at Kane, a lot of urging Isabel to calm down, and a lot of the kids jumping off of things. Isabel sometimes wondered if she had actually given birth to frogs. 

-8-8-8-8-

“I can’t believe they thought your bedtime story was better than mine,” Kane griped while carrying a sleeping Hadrian in his arms. He and Isabel were walking to Hadrian’s room to put him down to bed. They had just left Sheshona’s room, where they had told bedtimes stories as always. Sheshona was out halfway into the fourth story while Hadrian hung in there for three-fourths of it.

“Yeah, Kane, how could they not like zombie ninjas?” Isabel asked in a dry voice with a deadpan expression.

“I know!” he agreed.

“I was being sarcastic, darling,” she informed him.

She nearly died laughing as Kane’s face twisted into quite the confused expression. She knew what his problem was; she knew it was going to happen, which was why she spoke those words. They got to the bedroom as Kane finally found his voice.

“Were you being sarcastic when you called me darling or not?” he asked curiously. She never said the word before and then she said that she was being sarcastic, so he was not sure what to think.

“Of course, I was being sarcastic, sweetheart,” Isabel replied with a small smile.

“Wait, are you being sarcastic now?” he inquired in almost a panicked tone. _Why the hell is she always messing with me like this?! Probably revenge from when I goosed her earlier, as if she didn’t like that, though._

Isabel only smiled. She leaned down to fix the covers on Hadrian after Kane laid him down. She kissed the boy’s forehead. Kane did the same, but he did not let the subject drop as they headed to their bedroom.

“Okay, seriously, Bella, were you being sarcastic then or the first time or what?” he pestered her.

“You should know by now. We have been living together for so long, after all,” she teased him.

Kane frowned, not taking the taunt as well as she would have liked. She wrapped her arms around him before placing a kiss to his forehead; she enjoyed the height difference between the two of them. He put his arms around her too, in spite of the fact that he disliked her comment.

Isabel frowned a bit, too. She wished that he had not taken that remark poorly. Now, he was already in a serious-mode and he would be like that for the rest of the night more than likely. She supposed that she would not be getting any action tonight either when she was done. _Dammit_.

For a few frustrating seconds, Isabel silently lamented over things in her life. _Damn Jason for calling! Damn my pregnancy for making me constantly and consistently horny! Damn Kane for not getting the joke for the first time in who-knew-how-long!_

After that, they were at their bedroom. They usually spent the night in their room after putting the kids down for bed at the decent hour of eight o’clock. Sheshona typically woke up again at midnight, wandering the halls and oddly enough, cursing at imaginary friends from what her parents could tell. She was a strange, but funny child, Kane liked to say. Not that Hadrian was any less strange; Isabel was convinced that her daughter actually got her weird habits from her son. Although even with his odd mannerisms, Hadrian did not partially awake in the middle of the night to insult and bark at shadows.

The couple worked out together in their room. They had a gym in the house, but they just preferred to be in their room at night. They did some weight training, but Kane did not let Isabel work out as long as they usually did.

“Gotta think of the baby,” he reminded her.

“You’re always so worried about the baby. You were this annoying with Shona too,” she pretended to whine as he helped her to the bathroom in their room.

“I wasn’t this annoying with Hadrian? Damn, I need to make up for that!” he remarked. “Note to self: be more annoying to Bella.”

She swatted at him for that. They showered together, also the usual. But, as suspected, Isabel was not allotted any playtime in the shower. She did try, though; boy, did she try. Kane probably had never been groped so many times in his life and was probably not going to be able to sit down for a day considering how many times she pinched his ass.

Kane had to settle on his side when they got into bed. Isabel noticed it, but did not say anything. She did not care if his butt was sore if he was not going to play with her. Well, she told herself she did not care, yet a hand did make its way behind Kane to gently caress him.

“You’re in quite the mood,” he observed, starting up a conversation. It was not strange for them to talk for hours while lying in bed. The noise often attracted their children.

“I am unsettled,” she admitted in a low voice.

“The phone call earlier?” he guessed. That was the only odd thing in her day to “unsettle” her.

Isabel nodded. “The guy that called. Jason. He was my boyfriend a couple of years ago,” she said.

Kane nodded slowly, not really getting what she was getting to just yet. She knew that it would take him a moment to catch on. She could tell the moment the light bulb went off in his head; his jaw practically hit the bed.

“What the fuck did he want?” Kane demanded as his face tense and his brow wrinkled.

“Kane, he called about Hadrian,” Isabel said, eyes daring to look away briefly. It was a moment longer than she liked and she made sure to turn back to him as soon as she realized that she looked away.

His mouth quickly twisted into a scowl. “What does he care about Hadrian?”

“Hell if I know, but he claims to want to see him.” Isabel wondered just when she was going to have approach the five hundred pound gorilla in their relationship: Hadrian’s paternity.

“Why the hell would he want to see Hadrian?”

Isabel gave Kane a look, as if pleading with him to make her not have to say it out loud. He sighed and rubbed the side of his face with his hand. She offered him an apologetic expression. He only sighed again.

A few seconds later, Kane looked away. His heart beat abnormally in his chest and his eyes seemed to focus intently on nothing at all. When he finally looked back at her, she noticed moisture in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized in a low tone.

Kane did not respond. Part of him wanted to scream, wanted to holler at her and her damned “I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry” was not fixing the situation that they were in. “I’m sorry” was not taking away the pain in his chest, but it did let him know that he was not the only one hurting. So, he did not yell or let his emotions reign over his brain.

“Hadrian …” he trailed off for a moment. His voice sounded so weak, even though he had tried his best to sound normal. He started once more. “Hadrian is _my_ son,” he said soundly. No one was taking away his son.

“I’m not disagreeing there, sweetheart. I know whose son he is and he is most certainly _your_ son. I’m just informing you that Jason was calling about Hadrian. He claims to want to spend time with him and he’s willing to take us to court for it,” she replied in a calm, even tone. Her eyes betrayed her slight panic, though.

“He could win?” Kane asked incredulously.

“Yes,” she answered honestly.

“I don’t … I wouldn’t mind him being around Hadrian if I was certain that he genuinely cared for the little prince, but this is a man that left you alone when you were pregnant. He never even came to the hospital!”

“I know. I know. This is pissing me off just as much as it’s doing to you. I don’t want him around Hadrian if he’s going to do damage to the little prince either, which I’m damn certain will happen. But, if we go to court, I’m damn sure they’ll rule in his favor … for various reasons.”

“Like?” he inquired because he did not see what was so great about Jason that would allow him to have access to Hadrian.

Isabel sighed; she really did not want to go into the possibilities with him. Aside from the fact that it was damn obvious that Jason was Hadrian’s biological father, there were the reasons that she had already gone over in her own head. She doubted that she would compare well to Jason in a court of law; she did not have much faith in the judicial system anyway for plenty of reasons of her own.

“Sweetheart …” she said, trailing off because she was not sure what to say.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” he asked, as if he was annoyed with the term of endearment.

“Should I not call you that?” she countered, eyes focused on the mattress, voice and body close to trembling. _What the hell is his problem? Why was it that his annoyance doesn’t annoy me as it should, but sadden me? Why does he have this goddamn power over me?_ He could actually make her feel ashamed of herself. No one else had that power.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. He was so confused right now that he did not know what to say anymore. His jaw tensed more so than it already was and he silently ached to do something with his hands as if that would keep him calm.

Isabel felt the urge to apologize, but she bit her lip and held the words back. _Like hell I’m going to apologize twice to the same person in less than five minutes!_ Even if that person was making her feel like she was going to be sick from the seemingly disappointed, disapproving, and frustrated look in his usually bright and loving eyes.

Kane seemed to sense her tension and found himself unable to focus on his anger anymore. He reached out for her, rubbing her stomach. She took the gesture to mean that he was worried about her being upset and bothering the baby.

“That’s really the only thing that matters to you, isn’t it?” Isabel said before she could think. She wondered where the hell those words came from and the sudden intense burning emotion that she felt.

“What?” he asked in a bewildered tone.

“The fact that I just keep getting pregnant and can give you this tribe you so desperately want!” she huffed. “Bastard!” she suddenly cried and slapped him hard in the head.

Kane chalked the outburst up to her hormones and her undoubted frustration with the situation, too. But, he did catch her hand when she came in for the next hit. Multiple hits was a sure sign of anger; pure anger, not the usual petty annoyance that he drummed up in her.

“You only get one, Bella,” he reminded her in a serious tone while holding onto her hand.

“You’re just using me!”

“Dare I actually say how stupid you sound right now? You know how I feel,” he replied, adjusting his body so that he could cradle her to him. She did not resist him, curling into his solid and assuring form.

“You’re just with me for the kids. That’s all you want.” She sounded so … broken.

“Bella, I was with you before the kids and hopefully you’ll let me be with you long after they’re grown and having their own insane relationships. Now, I know you’re upset, so take a deep breath and calm down.”

Isabel took his advice instead of yelling right off of the bat. She figured that if she took his advice and it did not work, she could scream at him twice as loudly. She might even be able to get in a few hits.

But, she felt his hands caressing her, looking to soothe her. _God, they’re doing a damn good job_. She then remembered who was lying in the bed next to her. He was the man that stuck with her through everything since their second meeting. He was the man that actually made her feel secure, safe. He was the man that she married. He was the man that made her feel … loved. The man that she … loved … in return.

“I’m sorry. I’m going out of my mind now,” Isabel muttered as she cuddled closer to her husband.

“It’s okay. You know you shouldn’t get upset, though. Your hormones make you crazy enough without you letting anger add fuel to the fire,” he remarked, earning a very weak hit on his shoulder.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she mumbled while curling into her shorter husband as much as she could. She sometimes imagined how silly they had to look together on the outside, so she knew that when they were together inside the house, in their bed, they had to look downright ridiculous, not that it mattered to either of them.

“It’s okay. We’ll get through this. Now, do you want to take this to court or do you want to just give into his wishes? That’s really the only choices we have, correct?” he asked to be sure.

“You know what, I’ll go with whatever you decide.”

Kane nodded; she had to be weary if she was leaving such a decision in his hands. He knew that he was going to have to think long and hard on it. _Why not just go to court?_ It was not a given that Jason would win. There was no exact proof that he had had any relationship to Hadrian, blood or otherwise. _Besides, this guy just walked away when Hadrian was born. How could a judge just force Jason into Hadrian’s life without proof of any relationship?_

That bothered him, though considering what Isabel said. He did not know how the court system worked … anywhere really. He had lawyers, yes, but really only used them for business reasons. Maybe he should give a call to Charlie Darrow, his main attorney and somewhat friend, and get some legal advice. Surely Darrow would be able to win in court against whomever Jason brought to the table.

But, he stopped himself as he glanced down at his worn-out wife. He felt her swollen abdomen pressing against him. _Winning’s not the real issue_ , he realized. The process was the actual issue. _How would my Bella manage going through the process in her condition? She could barely make it through talking about this. Would the baby be bothered if Bella is stressed out? And what about Hadrian? How would any of us take going through the process? I’m ready to pull my hair out just from listening to this._

Then there was the possibility of Hadrian finding out years from now that Jason might actually be his … be his … Kane could not even allow himself to think it. But, the fact of the matter was that Hadrian might want to know the man. _Really_ , he considered, _the choice is Hadrian’s to make_. Sure, the boy was only two years old, but it was his right. He could meet the man that possibly helped lead to his birth and as he got to know him, it would be his decision as to whether or not he wished to know Jason.

“Bella …” Kane said, almost scared to voice his conclusion.

“Yes?” she asked in a low voice.

“I believe this is actually Hadrian’s choice. I know right now, he’s just a baby, but he will have to decide if he wants this guy in his life. I mean, Jason is nothing to us, but he could be something to Hadrian. I mean, isn’t it kinda like being adopted?” he wondered aloud. He was about to digress if his wife did not rein him in.

“He’s not adopted. Hell, we don’t even know if Jason is his …” she trailed off.

“But, we both know he could be. This is Hadrian’s choice. We can present him this guy and he can make a decision. Sure, I know he’s only two, but he can say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ quite well. We also know that he has no problem with saying he doesn’t like something.”

“But, he’s only two. He doesn’t know what’s good for him.”

“He knows what he likes. He’ll know if he doesn’t like this guy. We can start in small doses and see how things go from there. Okay?”

Isabel sighed; it would seem that she did not like that response. It was better than what she had, though. She doubted that she was in any condition to put up a real fight with Jason or to deal with a real fight right now. She guessed that Kane was making the best decision for them all.

“When did you get so smart?” she teased.

“Eh, I have to have a moment or two in this lifetime, right?” he countered with a small smile.

“I suppose.” She leaned up and placed a gentle kiss to his lips. They lay there silently until falling asleep. 

-8-8-8-8-

Jason sat at the table in a plain fast-food restaurant. He was tapping his hand against the freshly wiped table. He kept looking out of the window, anticipating her image. He was shocked when he finally saw her. He almost tried to convince himself that it was not her, but when she stood before him, he knew that the heavily pregnant woman before him was Isabel Han. 

“Hello, Jason,” Isabel said in an almost cold tone. 

“Isabel. Where’s …?” Jason seemed to blank on his name, which earned him a deeper frown from the pregnant woman.

“Hadrian will be along shortly. For the moment, we need to talk. I need you to know that I love my little prince very deeply as does his daddy. If you hurt our little prince in any way, shape, or form, you’re going to regret it for however long we decide your life will be. Hadrian will only be around you for as long as he wants to be around you,” Isabel stated bluntly.

Jason was not sure what she meant by that and he was not totally sure how to argue the point. He was thrown by the fact that she was standing before him obviously pregnant, too. _And did she just say, “his daddy”?_ As in Hadrian’s father, which he was almost certain he was thanks to other people telling him about the boy. 

Isabel walked off, leaving the restaurant again. She returned quickly with Kane by her side. He was holding their “little prince.” He followed her to Jason. He craned an eyebrow, realizing that Jason looked familiar, but he could not totally place the face at the moment. Jason thought the same.

“Hadrian, this is Jason,” Isabel introduced the two rather briskly. She rubbed the top of her son’s head, wanting to focus on him rather than her former lover.

“Hello, Hadrian,” Jason says, extending his hand to the boy. He was a bit shocked when Hadrian reached out and gave him a powerful handshake. Jason then continued speaking. “I’m your father.”

Kane went rigid, a vein in his thick neck bulged out. Hadrian glanced back at Kane and then looked at Jason with a confused expression in his deep blue eyes. The boy then pointed at Kane.

“My daddy,” Hadrian said. It seemed that he thought Jason was asking for his father. Naturally, he would point to Kane.

“No, no, no,” Jason said. He was certain that the boy was his. Hadrian was almost a clone of himself when he was little; his parents had more than enough pictures of him for him to know exactly what he looked like as a baby.

“I think he’s got this one right,” Kane stated bluntly. Jason glared at Kane, who glared back. It would seem that the challenge was issued. Isabel hoped that if there were going to be any casualties, it would be Jason.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the new baby arrives and Isabella does some babysitting.


	12. Oh, brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, or Matteo; they belong to Disney. I do own Kane, Isabel, Isabella, and Victoria.

11: Oh, brother

“ _Kane!!_ ”

He heard his name being screamed from downstairs, so he paused in pounding on the heavy bag that was in the decent-sized gym. He wiped his forehead with his equally sweaty forearm as he noted that shrill scream was not like the ones he was accustomed to. His beloved almost sounded alarmed there.

He, usually the slowest thing in the house, practically flew downstairs. He found Isabel in the kitchen, clutching her huge stomach with one hand and the countertop with the other. He was by her side quickly, supporting her weight.

“Bella, are you okay?” he begged to know.

“My water just broke,” she informed him.

“Fuck!”

“Kane, don’t panic. This is our third child, after all. You should be used to this by now,” she said, hoping to keep him focused.

“Right, right. We have a plan, we have a plan, we have a plan,” he sort-of chanted to himself.

“Yeah, so how about you execute that plan?” she pointed out. 

“Right!”

Kane needed a few seconds, which Isabel allotted him, even though she really wanted to yell at him. Yelling would not help, though; she knew that. Once Kane got his few seconds, he was off to follow through with their plan to a tee. He rushed to get the kids and the hospital bag. Sheshona was taking a nap, which he accidentally woke her from. She cried loudly while he went to collect Hadrian.

“Daddy, you’re bugging Shona!” Hadrian complained with a frown and a protective big brother glint in his eyes.

“I hadn’t noticed,” Kane remarked with a sarcastic half-smirk.

Kane knew how to get Sheshona to stop crying and that was to hand her to Isabel as soon as she was in sight. He rushed over to the car, where Isabel was seated in the front seat and he handed her the crying child. Isabel proceeded to try to hush the girl despite her own discomfort. She began singing softly to Sheshona about fireflies, which was due to the nickname she had given Sheshona, which was firefly. She had once told Sheshona that fireflies were not scared of the dark and if Sheshona was a firefly, then the darkness would not bother her. More often than not, the tactic did not work; whatever Sheshona saw in the dark scared the hell out of her most of the time. The singing comforted her now, though.

Kane dumped the hospital bag into the backseat along with Hadrian. He made sure the boy was fastened in and then practically fell into the driver’s seat. He took off down the drive and out of the gate. Isabel was impressed with how quickly he managed everything. _Who would have thought that Kane could actually move when properly motivated?_

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel was lying peacefully in the hospital bed while Kane was sitting right next to her. He was holding the latest addition to their family, smiling down at the sleeping newborn. Isabel stared at the pair, holding a smile on the inside.

“So, what do you want to name him?” Isabel asked curiously.

“I get to name him?” Kane countered as if he was in great shock.

“Well, I named Shona. So, I figured that you could have this chance, although I do reserve the right to pick his middle name,” Isabel explained with a small, amused smile; she just could not hold it in anymore.

“Would it be all right with you if I named him Matteo?” he asked, almost as if he expected her to shoot the name down immediately.

Isabel nodded. “I like that name. Any particular reason why you want to name him that?” she asked. She thought that it might have something to do with his fascination with all things about his culture.

“Well, it was sort of my father’s name,” he explained vaguely.

“Sort of?” she echoed in a puzzled tone.

“Well, it wasn’t his real name. He sort of made it up when he met my mother’s family. He wanted them to think that he was kinda Italian. I don’t think it worked, but they called him Matteo anyway to humor him, I guess.”

“Well, what was your father’s real name?” she inquired. Neither of them talked much about their families, but he was especially tight-lipped about his parents. She knew to give him time since he had lost them recently, compared to her anyway, and she still had her mother.

“Well, it depends actually. He had two.”

“Not counting Matteo?”

“Right. His name was Adam and Li.”

“Your father was Chinese?” she asked, failing to hide her shock. But, it did explain his last name.

“Chinese-American, which is why the last name is spelled wrong. Since he was from America, it sort of made things easier for me in staying here before we got married. But, yeah, he was Chinese.”

Isabel appeared thoughtful for a moment. “I never would have guessed you were half-Chinese.”

“Yeah, well, I take after my mother a lot.”

“So, how did your parents meet? Your mother was off on one of her adventures?”

“No, my dad was in Italy on business.”

“You’re about to tell me something I should’ve known already, aren’t you?” Isabel guessed. She could just see it on his face.

Kane chuckled and offered her a sheepish smile. “Probably. My dad kinda started his own business with some of his friends and I inherited his share when he passed.”

“Dammit, Kane. I should have been told that a long time ago. Now your other family members will probably think I’m a gold-digger, too,” the raven-haired woman groaned. _His family is going to hate me when they finally meet me_ , she thought.

He smiled sheepishly again, blushing a little bit. “Sorry, Bella. Personally, I think my family, both sides, would love you. The Go side really would love you, especially when they see how you keep me in check. Maybe when the kids get a little older, we can go visit my grandparents at least. They live across the country and I know we don’t want to travel with three small children. They’ll be shocked to see I’ve got kids.”

“You haven’t told them?”

“I wrote them a few letters, but when they see the kids in person, it’ll floor them. I know it,” he stated with a proud smile. “Maybe you could wow them with your Chinese.”

“I don’t speak Chinese,” she replied, pretending to huff at him.

“No? I thought you spoke like six languages.”

“Chinese isn’t on the list and I speak five languages.”

“Well, what is on the list?” he asked curiously.

“English, obviously. Spanish, French, Japanese, and Korean,” she informed him.

“Korean?” he echoed in disbelief. “You speak Korean, but not Chinese? I don’t get why you would speak Japanese and Korean, but not know any Chinese.”

Emerald eyes rolled. “My grandfather was Korean and refused to speak anything other than that. I wouldn’t have had to deal with him if only he didn’t like me so much and my mother and grandmother used me as a messenger when they wanted him,” she explained, sounding a bit amused.

Kane smiled in amusement himself and nodded. It was always good to learn more about each other, they thought. They were going to have to remember to share more with each other … when they were not running around and chasing the kids anyway.

“Thank you so much, Bella,” Kane whispered in a loving tone as he glanced down at their baby boy. He then leaned over to plant a gentle kiss on her lips, which she returned.

“You two need to control yourselves. This is why you have so many kids now,” Isabella remarked as she entered the room with Sheshona in her arms. Victoria came in after her, holding Hadrian’s hands. Sheshona was sleeping, and drooling, on her grandmother’s shoulder.

The sound of Isabella’s voice caused the couple to jump and pull away from each other. The sleeping newborn in Kane’s arms moved, which caught his attention. He gently rocked the boy to keep him asleep.

Before Isabel had a chance to say something smart to her mother, Hadrian let go of his aunt’s hand and dashed over to his father and the baby. He bounced on his heels, begging his daddy to show him the baby.

“This is your baby brother, Matteo,” Kane introduced Hadrian to the newborn.

“Matteo?” Hadrian echoed, almost as if he was confused. So, he had a baby brother. He was a bit disappointed, really wanting another sister, but decided that a brother might be just as good. He would have to wait and see what Matteo could do. If he could not climb the bookshelf to the top without falling, then Hadrian was going to have to return him to the hospital because he was nowhere near as good as a little sister. He dared to wonder if he would be able to exchange Matteo for another sister if he turned out to be dull.

“Matteo Li,” Isabel chimed in.

Kane looked over at his wife, surprise in his violet eyes; eyes that the newborn shared. She only smiled a bit. He resisted the urge to kiss her again; Isabella might actually hit him, even though he was holding the baby, if he repeated behavior that she just sort of reprimanded them for.

“Matteo Li?” Victoria echoed. “Boy, these kids have some names on them,” she commented with a laugh.

“Says Victoria Isabella—” Isabel did not even get to finish her sister’s whole name.

“Shut the fuck up,” the blonde ordered quite seriously. Like hell she wanted anyone to know her whole name! She was pissed that her own sister even knew her whole name.

“Is every Han woman named Isabella?” Kane wondered aloud. So far, the three he met and the one he helped create all held that name somewhere in their names.

“No, only the ones that can kill you,” Isabel remarked. It was a very popular name in her family, though.

Kane laughed, even though he did not doubt that. He did not press his luck and turned his attention back to the baby. Hadrian was inspecting the newborn, as if trying to decide if the baby was worth taking home. Sheshona would later do the same thing, but they were going to be home by then.

“You two, try to wait a couple of years before you do this again,” Isabella advised as she stepped closer to see her newest grandchild.

“Why?” Kane asked curiously.

“This takes a toll on a body. Izzie, treat your body like the temple it is,” her mother practically ordered her, emerald eyes locking onto the bedridden young woman.

Isabel could only nod. “Yes, Mommy.”

Isabella did not have anything against having grandchildren, but she did worry that her daughter was having them too soon after each other. Isabel was not giving her body time to recover; it was like she was treating childbirth as if it was a normal activity and the body could heal after a few days of rest. She had not taken time out of her life to turn Isabel into a powerful warrior only for Isabel to ruin years of hard work by having too many children too soon. But, she silently admitted while looking down at Sheshona and then at Matteo, _they’re precious little things_.

-8-8-8-8-

“I feel a bit bad that we decorated this color,” Isabel commented as she and Kane entered the baby’s room with Matteo in her arms. Kane was entertaining their other children by letting them jump and tug on him, begging him to get their mother to show them _their_ new baby. Yes, apparently, the baby actually belonged to the kids.

“What? I like yellow, anyway,” Kane replied. The baby’s room was yellow. They had been expecting a girl and Isabel just was not in the mood to see the color pink again. They were never going to listen to another doctor again.

“I guess we can paint when he gets older,” Isabel said, putting the baby down in the crib. He looked around and then suddenly started crying. She quickly picked him back up and the waterworks ended just as suddenly as they began. She craned an eyebrow to that behavior.

“Oh, so we have a little momma’s boy,” Kane remarked like he had just made a radical discovery.

“Inherited, isn’t it?” Isabel asked him in an accusing tone.

“Fuck, no! I was spoiled by both my parents, thank you very much,” he quipped with a proud grin.

Isabel could not help laughing; he was such a goof. She bounced the baby in her arms and made her way to a rocking chair that was in the corner; who would have thought that the rocking chair Kane brought her from when she was pregnant with Hadrian would still be useful years later? Hadrian and Sheshona rushed their mother now that she was lower to the ground.

“Lemme see, lemme see, lemme see!” Hadrian begged with a grin, which his sister shared. They were both practically jumping up and down in front of their mother.

“At least you two are happy to share your space,” Isabel commented more to herself than anyone else. She had been told that she was not so joyous when her sister was born, but she could not remember since she had been quite young at the time. All she had to go on were stories, which she did not doubt were true; apparently, she acted like she did now, even when she was three years old, except she was not joking around with Victoria back then.

She leaned down to show the kids their new sibling. Hadrian reached out and started rubbing the baby’s forehead, much like one would pet a puppy. Sheshona copied his actions, pushing his hand out of the way somewhat, but his silence made it clear that he did not mind. The baby seemed to like the attention, not making a noise as his siblings marveled over his existence.

“Play?” Hadrian asked, speaking to his mother.

“Matteo won’t be playing anytime soon. He’s too little,” Isabel explained, which she thought that the eldest should have known already. They had gone through this with Sheshona, after all.

“That’s stupid!” Hadrian complained with a frown and he folded his arms across his little chest. Well, so far having a sister was way better than having this non-playable baby around.

“Hey, hey, hey, no shouting. You’ll upset Matteo,” Kane scolded the boy as he came to over to the children. He picked up Sheshona and took Hadrian by the hand. “Let’s go find something to do,” the father suggested.

“Yeah, away from the dumb baby,” Hadrian agreed. Sheshona nodded.

Kane sighed. “Don’t call your brother dumb,” he said to his older son and then he turned to his daughter. “And you stop agreeing with everything that comes out of your brother’s mouth.”

Sheshona nodded; she actually tended to agree with anything that came out of anyone’s mouth if that person was a family member. It saved her the trouble of talking, which surprised her parents. Sheshona was the only person in the house that did not have an opinion to share … rather loudly in most cases. She would probably grow out of that, her parents figured.

Kane took the kids to go play in the backyard. They got to beat him up, which they loved. He let them wear themselves out, and bust his lip, and he then put them down for their naps in the living room. Isabel did not like putting them in their beds without cleaning them first. He then made his way upstairs to his wife and their new baby.

Isabel was still in the rocking chair with Matteo. She was singing softly to the now sleeping baby. He approached the pair and wrapped his arms around Isabel’s shoulders. She continued singing until she got to the end of the song.

“That song sounds mighty familiar,” Kane commented, humming the sentence a bit.

Isabel smiled; it was the song that Kane used to sing to Hadrian. “I guess it’s just stuck in my head.”

“It’s a catchy little tune. I bet he likes it,” Kane said while reaching down to rub Matteo’s cheek. The baby made a small whining noise and shifted into the touch. His father could not help smiling.

“We finally made one that looks something like me,” he remarked with a laugh.

“Wow, he has your eyes,” she said sarcastically and rolled her own eyes. Matteo had Kane’s purple eyes, but that was about it. His few strands of hair were black, like his mother. The baby looked somewhat like Sheshona did when she was born, except for the nose, so they guessed that he was going to eventually look like Isabel.

“Those Han genes are fucking strong,” he quipped, grinning as he spoke.

“That they are. So, if we have any more kids, get used to them looking just like me.”

Kane chuckled. “Oh, so we are gonna have more kids,” he concluded.

“Not likely,” she remarked with a laugh as if she was joking, but he could tell that she was being serious.

“Your mother made a lot of sense, didn’t she?” he asked while glancing away. He scanned the room, taking in the décor. He liked the yellow and white scheme that they had going, but he knew that Isabel disliked it. She preferred warm colors, like light blue and mint green.

Isabel was silent for a moment. It was against her nature to agree with her mother out loud; it was perfectly fine to agree internally, though. _It’s just not right to agree internally in a marriage_ , she reminded herself. She and her husband needed to speak with each other to make sure that they were on the same page and were doing the best for not only themselves, but for their family.

“I think she is right. Having a baby isn’t like an injury where I can rest for a few days or weeks and everything’s fine. I was a lot more tired while carrying Matteo than Shona or Hadrian and his birth was more difficult than theirs,” she replied.

Kane nodded. “So, before we start up again, let’s go to the doctor and get some of those birth-control pills,” he suggested.

“You’re going to come with me?” she asked, noting the words that he used.

“Of course!” he grinned madly. “Why would I not go? I agree with her and I’m here to support you in every way that I can!”

That sentiment touched Isabel; he was the only guy that she had ever met that would probably do such a thing. Instead of expressing that emotion, though, she scolded him for his big mouth. He grimaced as she reached up and whacked him in the head. He continued to grin, which she expected. They both then turned their attention back to the sleeping baby.

“I’m glad we had Matteo, though,” he said out of blue.

“I am, too. Hopefully, Hadrian and Shona won’t kill him before he learns to walk,” she remarked with a smile.

“Nah, they’ll let him die with them after he learns to walk,” he quipped. Those kids were crazy, after all; not that he helped … Well, he helped make them crazier, according to his dear spouse anyway.

-8-8-8-8-

“Mommy, are you sure you can handle all of them?” Isabel asked as she handed Matteo over to her mother.

Hadrian and Sheshona were in their grandmother’s house, rushing to the staircase with plans to leap off. Kane grabbed them, earning protests from them … some rather foul protests. He just wanted to take their shoes off before Isabella caught them, cooked them, and ate them from soiling her carpet.

“Daddy, c’mon! Wanna jump! Let us fucking go!” Hadrian implored while trying to pull himself free of his father’s firm grip.

“Like hell I will,” Kane replied. He would like his kids to grow up and kill themselves in something insane rather than getting murdered by their grandmother, after all.

“Bastard,” Sheshona huffed, also trying to tear herself from her father’s hold. She was trying to bite him in the arm, but it was not affecting him as she hoped. He was sort of immune to bites now considering how much both Hadrian and Sheshona did it.

Isabella looked at her struggling grandchildren. “I think I can handle them. I did raise two daughters whose favorite pastime was trying to kill each other, after all,” she remarked dryly.

Isabel rolled her eyes. According to her mother, Hadrian and Sheshona were nothing like she and Victoria when they were little. Hadrian and Sheshona were an unstoppable duo. They worked together rather than fought with each other.

“Okay, we shouldn’t be gone that long,” Isabel said to her mother.

Isabella waved her daughter off, letting Isabel know that she did not care how long they were gone. She turned her attention to Matteo, who was interested in sucking on his pacifier and rubbing his cheek. She glanced at his siblings as soon as Kane released them, watching them bum-rush her stairs.

Isabel and Kane left without word, knowing their offspring were not even paying attention to them to care. Isabella went to put Matteo down in a playpen that was once for Hadrian and then for Sheshona, and now for him. His face scrunched up and he started to cry as soon as his grandmother put him down.

“You can make all the noise you want. I’m not picking you back up,” Isabella informed the baby.

“Ohhh! Grandma broke him!” Hadrian said as he and Sheshona charged into the den, which was where the playpen was.

“What have I told you about accusing Grandma of certain things?” Isabella inquired calmly as she turned her attention to the energetic duo. For some reason, she pictured Kane was like them when he was child; she knew Isabel was not like them, after all.

“Don’t,” Sheshona answered, sort of scolding her brother for her grandmother.

Hadrian made a mocking face, which earned him a punch in the shoulder from his sister. He wasted no time retaliating, punching her in the chest. She fell back some, being smaller than her older brother. He looked quite triumphant; that would teach her to correct him.

Sheshona glared at Hadrian and came back at him. Isabella was used to the fighting; more from her own daughters than from her grandchildren. She sat down while they battled each other. As long as they stayed away from the playpen, they could knock each other’s brains out for all she cared.

Isabella took a seat on the sofa and kicked her feet up while the kids beat on each other. The pair seemed to lose interest in fighting quickly. Once they were both on the carpet, undoubtedly getting rug burns, they pulled away from each other. They glared at each other for a second and then burst out laughing. Isabella shook her head; _my sweet grandchildren are so weird_.

Hadrian and Sheshona suddenly dashed off. Isabella did not mind, well, she did not mind until she heard crashing sounds several minutes later. She shot up off of the couch and charged into the kitchen where there were broken dishes on the floor, Hadrian was standing on the counter, and Sheshona was hanging from the top of the cabinet door. Isabella sighed and shook her head.

“Hadrian, why did you put your sister up there?” Isabella inquired.

“I dunno,” he answered with a shrug.

“Help, Gran’ma!” Sheshona pled. She did not have a very keen sense of danger, but she had a feeling that if she fell from the cabinet door, she would hit the counter and then land on the sharp, broken dishes on the floor. It was very likely to hurt, she reasoned.

“If I didn’t think you’d break your fucking neck, I’d let your little ass fall. How the fuck do you two keep getting up on things like this?” Isabella wondered aloud. They were like little monkeys.

Isabella reached up and yanked Sheshona off of the cabinet. She then yanked Hadrian off of the counter. She was ready to literally kick them out of the kitchen, but they ran off without her saying anything. She knew what she had to do at that moment.

“Outside!” the grandmother announced.

She could hear the high-pitched cheering from the front of the house. By the time she made it out there, Sheshona was standing on Hadrian’s shoulders and trying to manipulate the doorknob to get the door open. Isabella had to shake her head again; _they can only be Kane’s children_ , she thought.

“Get the fuck away from door!” Isabella barked.

She obviously caught them by surprise, which was by design. They panicked and jumped. Sheshona wobbled while Hadrian tilted. Seconds later, they were both on the floor, Sheshona rubbing the back of her head and Hadrian rubbing his right shoulder. Isabella chuckled as she strolled into the den as if she did not do anything wrong.

Matteo was crying again, but stopped when he noticed his grandmother peering into the playpen. She leaned down and scooped him up, which ceased his tears. She then turned to her other two “brilliant” grandchildren to see they were still smarting from their “genius” idea.

“Let’s try to do it this way this time,” Isabella said while opening the door for them.

The pair was up in a flash and out the door just as quickly. She retrieved the baby’s car seat and exited the house, too. She sat the car seat down on the porch and put Matteo down. The baby whined.

“Your parents give you way too much attention if you keep making all these noises just from being put down,” Isabella commented, speaking to the baby.

Matteo made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a huff. Isabella glanced over at the boy, but did not pay him much mind after that. Matteo seemed to sense that he was not going to get any more attention from his grandmother, so he started to nibble on his hands.

Isabella turned to Hadrian and Sheshona, just to make sure they were not playing in the street. They did not typically play in the street, but they liked climbing on parked cars if there were any in front of the house. At the moment, they were having fun digging holes in her lawn. She was going to have to get a few things to make sure that they behaved when they were outside.

The grandmother went back into the house for a very quick moment and returned with a slingshot in her pocket. She was holding a cooler, which she sat down on the porch next to her. She popped the lid of the cooler open and loaded her slingshot.

“AH!” the troublesome duo screamed as small water balloons full of ice-cold water assaulted them. “Stop!” they wailed as they panicked.

The two ran in opposite directions to get away from the balloons, which would have worked out if they did not turn around. The pair then ran into each other, knocking each other to the ground. Isabella snickered; _they’re too much_.

“You know better than to dig up Grandma’s yard,” Isabella scolded the duo.

They sat up, nodding to that. They remained parked on the lawn for a moment, running their hands over the smooth, healthy grass. They took in the calm, warm air of the day that seemed to beg them to get up and do something. They obliged, climbing to their feet and then charging each other. Tiny knuckles clashed against chubby cheeks.

“I wonder how long this fight’ll last,” Isabella commented to the air.

Isabella turned her attention the baby. Matteo was frowning, but still gnawing on his hand. He seemed to sense eyes on him and turned to his grandmother. He put his hands up, silently pleading with her to pick him up.

“That won’t be happening, pal,” Isabella informed the child. He cried for a little while, but she ignored him.

By the time Matteo stopped crying, Sheshona was getting walloped by her big brother. She decided to retreat and ran toward her grandmother. She was about to learn that was a mistake.

Isabella saw the girl coming toward her and she did not care that Sheshona was only a year-old; she was not letting her run away from a fight. She stopped Sheshona by putting her foot out to keep the girl from even reaching her. She had enough practice with the move to avoid hurting Sheshona when she caught the girl with her foot.

“Gran’ma!” Sheshona put her arms out, hoping that her grandmother would save her.

“Go back out there and beat that boy senseless!” Isabella ordered harshly.

Sheshona looked confused for a moment, but seemed to get the message after Isabella shoved her away. She ran back in there, hitting her brother by surprise. Hadrian fell to the ground, but was back on his feet in a flash. They fought for a little while longer, but it seemed to get boring; as fighting always did with them.

The siblings switched from fighting to climbing on the fence that separated their grandmother’s house from the neighbor’s house. Isabella ended up pelting them with more balloons; she did not want them tearing up her gate. They abandoned that, but easily found other things to tear up.

Isabella could not help laughing as she watched them trying to ride on their aunt’s bicycle. They could barely pick the thing up, but they were determined to kill themselves on the thing from what she could tell. She would let them if that were the case.

“Ow!” Sheshona complained as the bike toppled onto her.

“You okay?” Hadrian asked, crouched over his little sister for a moment.

Sheshona shot him a pained thumb’s up with one hand and rubbed her head with the other. Hadrian worked to get the bike off of his little sister; she helped as best she could. They got the bicycle off of her, but then it fell onto him. Eventually, it was like watching a slapstick movie, causing their grandmother to snicker at them.

“All right, you two. Time for lunch!” Isabella announced after watching them screw around with the bike for almost an hour.

Isabella stood up to go inside, picking up Matteo while she was at it. The older children followed her back into the house. They knew to stand by the door once they got in, taking their shoes off and also stripping off their dirt-caked clothes.

“Bath!” they begged, standing nude at their grandmother’s doorway.

Isabella shook her head, but could not hold in more laughs. “All right, bath and then lunch.”

The grandmother ran a hot bath for the duo. They bathed together, splashing around like they were in a pool. She left them in there for a while to go feed the baby. Matteo fell asleep once he was fed and Isabella was able to devote her time to the loony pair in the tub.

By the time that she returned to the bathroom, Hadrian was hanging from the shower curtain and Sheshona was dangling from the side of the tub, which was too high for her to climb out of without falling. Isabella had expected as much and just removed them from those places. She washed them, dried them, and put them into new clothes.

They ate and fell out on the floor in the middle of the living room. She did not bother with them once they were sleeping, except for covering them with blankets. They were awakened by the sound of the front door opening.

“Mommy!” Sheshona shouted.

“Daddy!” Hadrian grinned.

The children charged their parents. They proceeded to excitedly tell their parents about their “great day with Grandma.” Amazingly enough, their favorite thing about the day involved being slapped with water balloons.

“Isabel, I think you might want to keep them away from their father for a while. Just until they figure out that he’s not cool,” Isabella remarked.

“I’m totally cool! That’s why they wanna be like me!” Kane declared with a grin, earning a slap in the back of the head from his wife.

“Stop being silly,” Isabel scolded him. The children laughed at their father, as they always did when he got hit. “So, Mommy, when will you be available to babysit again?” she asked, almost teasing with the question because she thought that the kids drove her mother insane.

Isabella shrugged. “I’d have to check my schedule,” she replied, as if she would not change things for her grandkids. Hadrian and Sheshona rushed her out of the blue and hugged her tightly around her legs. She actually smiled down at them as they grinned up at her.

“Wanna spend time with Grandma!” Hadrian declared and Sheshona nodded in agreement. Isabel and Kane laughed a bit, unused to seeing Isabella look cornered and smiling. Then again, they were not used to seeing Isabella looking _either_ of those states, cornered or smiling, so both of them together was somehow three times as odd.

“Fine,” Isabella sighed as if she had been defeated. “I’ll watch them again tomorrow,” she conceded. And then she glared her daughter. “Stop looking so smug about it!” she barked.

Amused expressions faded from Isabel and Kane. They collected their children to avoid pressing their luck. The kids were back with their grandmother the next day, though, and once again, they loved every second of it.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Jason makes a surprise visit, much to Isabel’s fury.


	13. One, big happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, or Matteo; Disney owns them. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Jason.

12: One, big happy

Kane was humming to himself while fixing a sandwich in the kitchen. He glanced to his right almost every five seconds because that was where Matteo was. Matteo was hooked up in an automatic little swing, not too far from his father. So far, he did not show an aversion to the chair like his siblings used to, but that was probably because Kane was treating him like the center of the universe while the swing was used as a way to sneak away from the other two children when they were babies.

The father and son were spending some quality time together while Isabel had the older duo. Kane could only imagine how that was going; he was sure that it was going worse than anything that his mind could do come up with. That was just how their older kids, and his wife, were.

“You and me won’t get in any trouble, though, right, Matteo?” Kane inquired with a grin.

Matteo responded with a grin of his own. Kane walked over to the baby and handed him one of his little butter cookies. Matteo cheered while nibbling on the cookie with his hard gums. Kane went back to his sandwich after that.

Kane made sure to keep Matteo entertained, even though the baby eating the butter cookie was enough, considering the fact that Matteo got the cookie all over his hands, as babies tend to do. Matteo started eating the cookie crumbles off of his hands while also making sure to giggle whenever his father made a goofy face at him, which kept his father coming back to make more faces.

“I wonder if I should make sandwiches for them when they come in …” the purple-eyed male muttered to himself as he bit into his sandwich. He considered that his wife and their wild duo might be hungry when they came in. _It would be nice for them to have sandwiches waiting and I bet Bella would appreciate not having to fix anything_ , he thought.

He turned his attention to Matteo again and the baby laughed. He made another face at the child and it earned him plenty of giggles. He noted a while ago that Matteo was his greatest audience. He broke off a small piece of his sandwich and fed it to the child; Isabel would have punched him in the head for that since Matteo did not even have teeth. Matteo gummed the piece of sandwich anyway.

“Can’t go wrong with turkey,” Kane remarked, amusing himself, but Matteo made a noise as if cheering his agreement.

Someone ringing the doorbell broke up the father/son moment. Kane scratched his forehead in confusion, not expecting company. He put his sandwich down and went to answer the door. The ringing persisted as he exited the kitchen. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” the auburn-haired male hollered.

The ringing persisted despite the yell and Kane considering decking whoever was at the door for being a total jackass. He came to the door and yanked it open, not bothering to ask who it was. He thought for a moment that he might have damaged the door; Isabel would kill him if he had as she so loved the doors.

“What?” Kane huffed and briefly realized just how rude he was being. When he saw who was at the door, he decided that rude was quite good. He might have to end up being downright mean.

Jason Gooding stood before him, staring down at Kane. It seemed that Jason tried to beef himself up when he noticed that it was Kane at the door. He towered over the auburn-haired male already, but he squared his shoulders and seemed to flex all of his muscles. His large biceps showed because of his short sleeve polo shirt, but flexing made it seem like he inflated himself, much like a cat or a raccoon would do if confronted by an enemy or a threat.

Kane scoffed aloud, noticing that Jason was trying to intimidate him. Yes, he was short; hell, Isabel was six inches taller than he was. But, what he lacked in height, he was sure that he made up for in skill, power, and fiery insanity that was all his own.

“The hell do you want?” Kane inquired, manners forgotten for the moment.

“Where’s Isabel and my son?” Jason countered in an almost smug tone. There was an arrogant look in his eyes, almost as if he had one-upped the shorter guy.

“Bella and my boy are out working right now. You should try calling, but, oh, you don’t have the number,” Kane remarked with a laugh. He actually thought there was comedy in the other man’s words. “Why don’t you come and wait, she can breath fire on you for somehow getting our address and showing up unannounced when she comes in.”

Jason growled while Kane shrugged and walked away, figuring that he had better things to do with his life. He would let Jason decide what he wanted to do. The shorter male returned to the kitchen to see that Matteo had thrown cookie bits everywhere.

“Your mom is going to kill me!” Kane pretended to groan as he charged the baby and tickled under his neck. Matteo chuckled and swatted at his father with his dirty hands.

Kane took the hint and pretended to fall on the floor, showing that Matteo defeated him. Unknown to Kane, Jason was inside, watching him too. Disbelief conquered his sapphire eyes while he stared at this ridiculous little man that had managed to take his Isabel from him. _How’s it even possible that she picked this idiot over me? How did I lose Isabel to such a sad little man?_

“Why don’t you pull up a chair? I’ll get you a drink,” Kane said from his space on the floor. Okay, maybe he was aware that Jason was watching him. He was not as silly as he seemed.

“What?” Jason asked in shock. He actually took a step back.

“Take a seat. I’ll get you something to drink. We’ve got juice and beer mostly,” he informed his “guest” while leaping to his feet all of the grace of a cat.

“Uh … I’ll take a beer,” the larger male replied because he was a bit thrown off by the offer. His face twisted into confusion by the sudden nonchalant attitude of the auburn-haired male.

Kane went into the fridge to retrieve the requested beverage while Jason took a look around the large kitchen. He noted that the house in general was gigantic, as was the outside land. _How in the world can Isabel and this moron afford such a place they’re no older than I am?_ As far as he knew, neither Kane or Isabel worked either; he never counted Isabel’s street-fighting as work and as far as he knew that was what she did. He was sure that Isabel could not afford such a house on her own. _So, how are they paying for things? If Isabel has my son around anything illegal, I’ll definitely be seeing her in court. Maybe a bust or something would bring her to her senses and she’ll leave this idiot._

“Here ya go,” Kane said while placing the beer down on the countertop in front Jason. He made sure to put it on a coaster.

“Why are you being so damn nice?” Jason inquired, not meaning to speak that aloud, but his brain and his mouth were connecting just a little too much at the moment it seemed.

“I’m a decent host when given the chance,” the violet-eyed male commented with a shrug. There was more to it than that, but he did not need to tell his reasons.

Jason frowned, doubting that was the truth. He wondered if Kane had something up his sleeve. He did not drink the beer.

Kane did not show any concern over Jason and turned his attention to his son. He started to clean Matteo up, which the baby did not seem to enjoy. Matteo whined and dodged every time Kane tired to touch him with the wet washcloth.

“I see, you’re gonna be the dirty one out of the bunch. The smelly one. The little prince and Shona are going to make fun of you,” Kane hummed.

The pleasant sound got Matteo to drop his guard and Kane went in for the kill. Matteo wailed as the rag wiped away all of his good cookie mess. Afterward, Kane offered his little boy a smile for all his trouble. From the look that Matteo gave him, Kane bet that the child would have given him the finger if he only knew how.

“Is Isabel going to be back soon?” Jason asked, cutting in on the father and son yet again.

“Either that or the destructive duo got her arrested,” Kane remarked. Or, of course, the destructive duo themselves could have been arrested. He amused himself picturing the toddlers having mug-shots taken.

“Quit joking around and just give me a straight answer,” Jason demanded with a growl in his throat and tension in his neck.

“Can’t give you what I don’t have. Right, li’l buddy?” Kane said, now speaking to Matteo.

Jason’s frown cut deeper into his face and he finally took note of the baby in the kitchen. He was shocked by the presence of the child for the simple fact that he knew Matteo was Kane’s son, and he knew that meant Isabel had a child with Kane. Now, he noted the pair wearing wedding bands when he saw them before, but still, he did not think it was a very serious relationship until now.

 _She married this clown?_ Jason wondered, growling in his own mind. _She had left me for this guy and had the nerve to marry him when I know she would’ve laughed in my face if I proposed? She had babies with this guy? What the hell was wrong with Isabel?_

“All right, your majesty, time to let you run free,” Kane decided, pulling Matteo out of the swing.

Matteo struggled, whined, and reached for something that he was leaving behind. Kane turned around to look and saw a piece of soggy cookie in the swing chair. He laughed and turned his attention to the baby.

“Yeah, I think that’s the one that got away,” Kane told the child. There was no way in hell he was handing the child a cookie that he had been sitting on.

Matteo took a page out of his mother’s book and slapped Kane in the face, either for the remark or just because everybody else did it. Kane took the hit, like all the others that came his way. He would have pretended to be hurt and dropped to the floor with his usual dramatic flare, but he was holding Matteo.

Kane set the baby down in a walker that Isabella recently purchased for him. Matteo was not really a fan of it. The first time he sat in and realized what to do, he seemed to look up at his parents go, “Move? Under my own power? I think not, peasants!” So, now, he just sat in the thing until someone took him out of it.

Kane was about to turn his attention back to his “guest,” but the kicking at the door let him know that his family was home. He left Matteo again to go answer the door. As soon as he opened it, Hadrian and Sheshona tackled him.

“We have fun!” Hadrian howled while Sheshona nodded enthusiastically agreeing with her brother.

“You let them kill someone?” Kane guessed, speaking to his wife. There had to be some explanation for their extra-energy.

“Just maim,” Isabel remarked with a pleasant smile.

“I know why they love going to work with you,” Kane commented.

Isabel chuckled a bit. She had started taking the terrible duo to work with her after getting a gig for a series. Every now and then, they needed children to do things, so Isabel brought hers along. At least they could execute directions … right after she managed to get them from destroying something and have them stand still for a minute. It was a tough task, but well worth it.

“They keep acting like they do and they’ll be accompanying me to my other job,” Isabel playfully threatened the pair.

Kane scoffed. “Knowing these two, they’d have all those street fighters running for their fucking lives,” he quipped.

Isabel nodded a bit, conceding that point. “Now, where’s our little lord and high master? I haven’t seen him all day it seems,” she commented, rubbing her hands together in eager anticipation of holding her baby boy.

Isabel turned to go find the baby and had all of the mirth that she was currently feeling sucked out of her like a vacuum had come around. She caught sight of Jason, standing in her kitchen, looking at her. She growled as her eyebrows bent in and a fierce look overcame her jade eyes.

“The fuck are you doing here?” Isabel demanded to know, pointing a threatening finger at the intruder as far as she was concerned.

“I came to see you and our son,” Jason said calmly.

The answer only seemed to enrage Isabel more; the air seemed to freeze over around them despite the warmth of the day and it felt like electricity popped in the atmosphere. Kane acted quickly, surprising his whole family with how fast he was at Isabel. He stood between her and Jason and then enveloped her with an embrace.

“Calm down. The kids are watching,” he whispered to her.

“I know. I am calm,” she replied in a tense tone.

“Is that why I can feel your heart beating a mile-a-minute or is it just the fact that I’m hugging you that’s got you all excited?” he remarked.

“Idiot,” Isabel huffed and then elbowed him in the shoulder.

Kane groaned from the blow and fell away from her. Even though she was free, she did not make any moves toward Jason. She continued to glare at him.

“How’d you get this address?” she demanded. Her voice was somewhat under control now, but she was clearly not happy and not very calm.

“I still do know some of the same people as you. Besides, we share a son, I should know where you live,” Jason pointed out, gesturing toward her with his hand.

“More than he and I live in this house. Show some fucking respect,” Isabel stated, moving her head just a little as she spoke.

Jason laughed. “You tell me to show some respect? That’s rich.”

“Uh, Bella, mind if I field this one?” Kane requested out of the blue.

“Eh?” Isabel arched an eyebrow.

“Well, you know, the kids are watching,” Kane repeated. He would rather spare the kids any show that Jason seemed glad to put on.

“Ah, yes. Jason, step outside for a little while,” Isabel “requested,” going so far as to make an elegant sweeping motion toward the front door with her hand. She gracefully turned her whole body to make the move.

“If you don’t follow the directions, I’ll just take the kids in the backyard,” Kane commented since Jason seemed to decide that he was not moving.

“You’re acting immature, Isabel,” Jason said, standing firm in the place that he was.

“It’s that condescending attitude of yours that’s going to get your feelings hurt. Oh, wait, we did that already,” Isabel quipped with a cruel smirk on her face. “I guess this’ll just have to be a repeat.”

Kane took that as his cue. He collected the kids and marched them out into the backyard. They put up some protest, sensing that they were going to miss out on something really exciting if they left the scene. Kane wrangled them into the backyard, though.

“You’re got a lot of fucking nerve,” Isabel snarled as she charged over to Jason and grabbed him by the collar.

He was shocked by her speed, not recalling that she was so fast. His eyes widened as her grip tightened. She could practically hear his heart pounding; the noise was flooding his ears.

“You never in your fucking life show up at this house uninvited. You don’t call Hadrian your son in my presence or in my husband’s presence. You don’t act like you own the fucking world just because my son might share his blood with your stinking ass. Now, you have five seconds to explain your fucking presence here or I will throw you out of the house and, like my mother, I will not bother to open the fucking door before doing it,” she stated in a steady, cool pace.

Jason gulped while a cold sweat-bead ran down his cheek as if it was being chased by the devil himself. He had never heard _this_ voice before. He had never seen _this_ exact look in her eyes. He had never quite felt _this_ grip.

“So, why the hell are you here?” she repeated, her gaze cold and sharp, cutting through his like a swift sword made of ice.

“I wanted to see you and Hadrian,” he answered quickly.

“If that’s the case, you call and arrange a meeting. I have other kids around here that you have absolutely no chance of being tied to. I don’t want them to have to see you or know you or deal with you. You’re no one to them. Also, don’t bother about seeing me beyond me being Hadrian’s mother because I’m no one to you. Yes, Hadrian is another matter altogether, but, eventually, he’ll see through your bullshit, too,” she replied and released him. “Now, show yourself out and the next time you want to see Hadrian, call.”

Jason did not argue; his brain was not working well enough for him to form an argument at the time. He silently left the house, quietly shutting the door behind him, because his mind knew that would be best. She watched him go from the front window with a frozen look in her eyes. She made sure that he got into his car and drove off of their property. Once he was gone, she turned around to join her family in the backyard.

As expected, Hadrian and Sheshona were beating up Kane. The toddlers were showing him what they did today. He was willing to bet that they impressed the people on the set with their skills. They turned to their mother as soon as she came out, staring intently at her as if they were awaiting news.

“He left?” Hadrian asked with surprise directness.

“He did,” Isabel confirmed.

The boy nodded and then went back to beating up his daddy. Sheshona seemed satisfied with that and did the same. Isabel sat down in a chair that was right next to Matteo; he was not even trying to see if he could take the walker into the grass.

-8-8-8-8-

The children were in bed; hopefully, they would stay there. Kane and Isabel were in their bedroom and they were shadow boxing with each other. They were starting to work themselves into a routine to practice with each other because recently Isabel figured out that she was living with a damn capable fighter and they could help each other improve. She was always trying to improve.

They were both wearing shorts; his were sport shorts while hers were sweat shorts that she had cut to go to her mid-thigh. He was not wearing a shirt, knowing that it would only end up drenched in sweat. She was wearing a dull blue camisole.

“Now, why the hell did you even let Jason in the house?” Isabel inquired while throwing a kick at Kane’s head. She thought it was a bit funny that she could not even do a high kick on him or she would miss him entirely.

“Why not?” Kane countered while ducking.

“He’s just trying to be a jackass. Is this some male posturing shit that I don’t get?” she asked curiously. “Were you trying to brag to him in someway? Like you got the girl and the kids or something?”

“Possibly. I’m not entirely sure what I was doing either. Just wanted to show him, he might have had you once, but he damn sure won’t be getting a second try if I have anything to say about,” he declared. “I hate to break it to you, Bella, but you’re mine now and I’m never letting you go.”

“Is that so?” she teased him.

Kane chuckled and then surprised Isabel by simply tackling her; despite her height, they weight almost the same amount because Kane was thick. She yelped and fell to the floor. He landed on top of her and grinned.

“You should know by now, Bella. I’m here forever and ever and ever,” he remarked, leaning down to nuzzle her neck.

“You are a good little pup, aren’t you?” she taunted him.

He did not say anything to that, but seemed set on proving her right. He began licking at her creamy neck, not caring that she had worked up a sweat while going against him. She began to shift, moving him from where he was until she pushed him further down. He whined like a wronged puppy.

“Hey, wait a second, this is even better!” he proclaimed and then proceeded to snuggle into her bosom.

“You pervert …” she weakly admonished him as her skin began to flush from the new activity.

“You know you love me this way. Sorry he upset you so much,” he suddenly apologized.

“Kane, don’t bring that up when you’re right there!” she barked at him and slapped him in the back of the head, which only forced him deeper into her heated flesh. He snickered, tickling her skin.

“I’m not even anywhere really good yet, though,” he teased, smiling into the swell of her left breast.

“Stop being a smart ass before I push you off of me and out a window.”

Kane laughed before pushing himself up to kiss her on the lips. She wrapped her arms around him to hold him to her. And then Hadrian showed off his new talent of being able to open doors.

“Hey!” the boy screamed with a grin as he barged into the room, causing his parents to quickly pull away from each other. They scrambled into sitting positions.

“What can we do for you, little prince?” Isabel asked while Kane was cursing their son’s timing in his head.

“I just figured out what comes after five!” Hadrian announced merrily.

The parents’ expressions deadpanned. What the boy was doing counting instead of sleeping, they doubted they would ever know. They planned to put him back into bed until they heard Sheshona wandering toward them, mumbling heatedly at shadows on her way. She came into the room eyes shut, but still knew where to go in order to fall right into her mother.

Sheshona knew immediately that she was in a safe place and curled into her mother. Isabel chuckled a little and wrapped her arms around her daughter. She leaned down and kissed Sheshona’s forehead before she started singing the song about fireflies and assuring her daughter that the fireflies would protect her from the shadows that haunted her.

“Why are they always beating me?!” Kane pretended to cry while falling out onto the floor. He was pretty sure that he was minutes away from getting laid until the kids had to come in. He was sure from the way that Isabel had her “little firefly” that the kids were staying for the night, too.

Isabel shook her head to her husband’s antics and then forced him to go take a shower while she held onto Sheshona. Hadrian took it upon himself to climb into his parents’ bed, knowing that Sheshona was going to get to stay for the night, so he figured that he should get the same. Isabel did not say anything to Hadrian and continued singing softly to Sheshona; it was the only way to get to stop having arguments with whatever it was she was dreaming about.

Sometimes, Isabel wondered if Sheshona was actually sleepwalking when she wandered the house at night. There were times when it seemed like her talking just had to do with whatever was going on in her head; they seemed like nightmares most of the time. But, other times, it seemed like she was wide awake and the darkness was haunting her, so she had to fight it back.

When Kane returned to the room, Isabel turned their daughter over to him. He started singing and also lay down in the bed. Sheshona rested on his chest while Hadrian came close because he wanted to hear the song, too. All Kane could think was it was going to be a wild night because the kids seemed to believe that they should only take up as much space in the bed as their parents.

When Isabel came back, she noticed that the kids were draped on Kane. She sighed; now there was no one for her to drape herself on. Despite that fact, she settled down into bed. As soon as she was comfortable, Sheshona turned over onto her and slapped her in the throat while doing do.

“Can’t they even sleep safely?” Isabel wondered aloud.

“I’m gonna go with no,” Kane replied while trying to get Hadrian to stop gnawing on his arm. Hadrian always had food dreams when sleeping next to him, Kane noted with a groan. He could already imagine the boy waking up with a grin on his face while proclaiming that he had just had the “bestest” dream about chocolate cake.

“Be happy it’s your arm this time,” Isabel remarked.

Kane frowned; the last time Hadrian had damn near chewed his fingers off. He supposed that there were worse things that could have happened, like the boy could have succeeded. Still, he waited for the nibbling to cease before he dared to go to sleep. By then, Isabel was out like a light; she needed to be ready for when Matteo woke up crying in the middle of the night.

Matteo did not disappoint. Isabel had to put Sheshona on Kane for a while and noticed that Hadrian was now biting on Kane’s shoulder. She shook her head and went to attend to the baby. She smiled as she sat down with him.

“Your father thanked me when we had you. He thanked me as if I had given you to him on my own. I’m starting to realize that I should thank him. Not just for you, but for your brother and sister, too. For this feeling that he gives me. For all of this,” she whispered, as if she was frightened that her husband might hear her. She laughed a bit, realizing that she was being silly. She should be able to say such things to Kane since he was her husband. “I can never really tell him everything …” she muttered.

She supposed that was her fault, but then again, that was how she was. She assumed that Kane just knew. _He has to know since he continues to put up with me and the various traumas I have to bring into his life daily_ , she thought, which got another laugh out of her.

Matteo looked up at his mother as if he was questioning her sanity. She returned the look while wondering if she was currently nursing a smartass. She was willing to bet that she was considering who his father was; she did not even bother to factor in that she was a smartass in her own right.

Isabel decided to direct her attention to Matteo, mostly because he continued staring at her with that look. She sang softly to him; like his siblings, he was sucker for singing. When he was done eating, he seemed to stay awake just for the singing. Eventually though, he returned to his dream world. She put him down on his back in his crib, covering him with his soft, tiny yellow blanket. She then went back to her bed.

Sheshona seemed to know when Isabel hit the mattress again because she was lying on her mother again within minutes. She eased her way onto Isabel that time, so there was no damage done. Isabel wrapped her arms around her daughter while moving to rest her head on Kane’s unoccupied shoulder.

“Do you know what you saved me from? Do you know how thankful I am to you? How could you, even I don’t know it, after all,” Isabel whispered, speaking to Kane, who was knocked out.

Isabel never took the time to think about it until now, but had Kane never came along, she was willing to bet that she would still assume that she loved Jason. She would probably still be with him. She doubted that she would have her little Shona or the mini-king, Matteo. She truly doubted that she would be married and even if she did end up married to Jason in the same manner that she did to Kane, she would have had it annulled the second that she realized what happened. She would not have the family that she had. The family that made her quite happy, even though they were rather loony, husband included.

“Thank you for this, Kane,” Isabel said and she placed a gentle kiss to his shoulder. He smiled in his sleep for the rest of the night.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Isabel is pregnant again and things don’t work out exactly as planned.


	14. Into the woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, or Matteo. Disney owns them. I do own Isabel, Kane, Isabella, and Victoria.

13: Into the woods 

“Kane, I’ve got another job,” Isabel informed her husband. They were lying in bed, supposed to be going to sleep, but they needed to talk a little before hand because that was just their thing. She was starting them off.

“That’s great. Can you work two series at the same time?” he asked curiously. “Or is this something completely different?” After all, his wife had two different vocations; fight choreographer by day and wild street fighter at night. _Both are damned sexy for some reason_. _Shit, I must really be a pervert_.

“It’s not a street fight, if that’s what you’re worried about. It’s a movie. Maybe you would like to be in it. There is a small part for a boxer,” she proposed.

He chuckled; it was not the first time that she offered him such a thing. He knew that she did it because it meant that she would be working with someone that was capable of doing the moves that she desired. He never took her up on the offer, though.

“Sorry, Bella. You know I don’t want to be in pictures,” he replied, smiling as he spoke.

“It would be good advertising for your business. I know you bug your other partners about getting a chance to do stuff, even though they think you’re a moron. They’re right, of course,” she remarked, a small smile gracing her features.

“Of course. I just try to do things to get on their nerves,” he lied, and she knew that he was lying.

“Sooner or later, they’ll give in. How are things with the business, anyway?”

“Stable as always. I’m thinking on working on a stock portfolio or something. What do you think?”

“If that’s what makes you happy, sweetheart,” she replied while snuggling up to him. She breathed in his spicy scent; it was so comforting to her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and curled into his shoulder. She smiled to herself; he was the perfect size for cuddling in her opinion.

He smiled a bit while putting an arm around her shoulders to keep her pressed to him, not that she needed any help in that. Silence reigned supreme over the room for a few moments that allowed Kane to think about how far they had come. He could only wonder with glee what the future had in store for them. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Shona, don’t do that!” Kane scolded the girl, who turned around from her mischief to stick her tongue out at her father.

Sheshona was now three and still very much her big brother’s sidekick. Hadrian was stirring up trouble as usual by throwing books off of the shelves in the library. Sheshona was tearing pictures out of them. 

“What are you two even doing?” Kane begged to know with a floored expression. His hands were in front of him and pressed together in desperation.

“Gonna color,” Hadrian answered as if that was obvious. To him and his little sister, it was.

“All right, you little Picasso-paths, we don’t tear pages out of good books for coloring. We buy coloring books and sketchpads,” the father explained while grabbing the kids away from the books. It was a good thing that they were short and he and Isabel only kept crappy books where the kids could reach.

“Sketchbooks?” Sheshona echoed in a puzzled tone. _What the hell is a sketchbook?_

“Yeah, remind—” Kane did not even get a chance to finish that thought because the kids heard the front door open.

“Mommy!” the duo screamed with joy and then charged off to go meet their mother at the door.

“What the hell? I don’t get no respect,” Kane remarked with a chuckle while following the pair out of the room.

Hadrian and Sheshona attached themselves to their mother, almost knocking over their little brother. Isabel smiled down at the kids and rubbed the tops of their heads. Kane stood back and shook his head.

“Now, why is it, I get tackled to the ground in a way that would make most pro football players wince, but you get warm hugs?” he pretended to whine.

“Because I’m better than you,” Isabel remarked.

Kane pouted; it was such a fierce expression that even though Isabel knew it was a pretense, she still had to give in. _He knows me too damn well_ , she thought. She put her arms out, silently beckoning him toward her for an embrace to lift his spirits.

Kane proceeded over, making sure to playfully knock Hadrian and Sheshona out of the way while he was at it. They did not take kindly to the move and wasted no time in attacking his legs, hoping to make him fall over. Kane was pretty sure that they could beat him in the knees with metal bats and he would not fall over once he was in his Bella’s arms.

“You are very high-maintenance,” Isabel teased Kane as she ran her fingers through his wild, soft auburn hair.

Kane laughed. “Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”

“The pot is about to call the kettle a lot of things if he wants to continue to be a smartass,” she quipped with a smile.

“How did your errands go?” he asked to be on the safe side. The last thing he needed was for his wife to get in on beating him with the kids. It was bad enough when she used him as a training dummy.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Kane gulped; it was a rare day when she did not say something in front of the children. _It must be something really bad_ , he concluded. He did not get much of a chance to contemplate it as Hadrian and Sheshona figured out that punching the same space over and over again caused a lot of pain after a while. He turned around, much faster than the pair ever assumed their father could, and he snatched them up.

“You wanna assault me?! Then it’s into the hedges with you!” Kane declared, easily throwing both kids on his shoulders.

“Kane, don’t put them in the hedges!” Isabel called to her husband, who, of course, did not listen.

Kane continued on for the backyard and Isabel, despite her orders, made no move to stop him. Hadrian and Sheshona knew that they were going to hedges. It was a much better, and funnier, not to mention crueler, punishment when he had the pair convinced that there were goblins in the bushes. They would scream and freak out to the point where Isabel had to save them from the dreaded hedges. They did, eventually, figure out that there was nothing in the hedges, except bugs and twigs anyway.

“Dammit!” the children wailed, letting Isabel know that they were in the hedges now.

Isabel turned her attention to Matteo. “So, my mini-emperor, are you going to go play with Daddy, too?”

Matteo nodded and ran off to go join his siblings in the hedges. Kane just put Matteo in the shrubs because he liked being with his siblings. Hadrian and Sheshona swore loudly when their baby brother landed on their heads.

The shrubs were thick and would have been great for hiding if only they did not hate it so much. Each plant had its branches sheered to the point where Kane was comfortable with dropping his offspring in there, knowing they would not be scratched or cut. The bushes went all around what Isabel designated as the end of the backyard; the hedges were a perimeter to keep the kids out of the larger space that was still their yard.

“One day, they are going to escape out of the other side and then where will you be?” Isabel remarked, coming up behind Kane.

“Dead. Like you’d let me live if I lost the kids,” he retorted with a scoff.

“Ah, yes, that would be quite the crime. I’d force suicide on you if you were to lose all of our little ones.”

“Guess it’s a good thing I told them the grass behind the hedges is quicksand and full of flesh-eating zombies.”

She rolled her eyes. “You are just too bad. You’ll probably spark their curiosity that way.”

“Well, at least I have a will and I picked out a coffin,” he commented, smiling all the way through. “Now, what is it that you’re keeping silent on? It kinda worries me when you don’t talk.”

“I didn’t want to say it in front of the two comprehending monsters. As you know, I had a doctor’s appointment and I am pregnant again,” she informed him.

“How the hell is that even possible?” he wondered and then he shot her an accusing glare. “You haven’t been taking the pills,” he stated, even though that was quite obvious if she was pregnant again. _Well, what the hell was the point in going out to get birth control in the first place if she’s not going to take it?!_

“I forget sometimes, on very busy days. I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. Do you think we’ve waited long enough? I mean, Matteo is over a year old. That should be fine, right?” she asked with an arched eyebrow and a pleading look in her vibrant green eyes.

Kane put his arms around his wife’s perfect waist. He put his free hand on her abdomen and gently petted her flat belly. She smiled gently down at him.

“Of course, it’ll be fine. You’ve had some time to recover from his Highness and I’m here for you. After this one, though, we’ve got to figure out some better birth control for you or you’ll be pregnant every month,” he remarked.

She playfully slapped him, but then wrapped her arm around his shoulders. She caressed his neck, which comforted her as much as it did him. She smiled to herself; _how does this little pervert manage to make me feel constantly and consistently at ease? Why does he make me feel like everything is always going to be all right?_ She did not know, but she loved him all the more for it.

“If only you would grow some each time I have a child, you would match me in height now,” she teased.

“You’re obviously stealing my essence, so it’s impossible for me to grow,” he remarked, grinning.

“Pervert,” she huffed and slapped him again.

“You just say that because you love me.”

In response, she used her second favorite “nickname” for him. “Idiot.”

He only smiled, as if he enjoyed being called a pervert and an idiot. Of course, if it was by her, he was fine with it. His hold on her tightened and he fixed his gaze on their children. _Another one of those?_ He smiled wider.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane was no sage and had no pretensions in his mind that he was one, yet he felt terrible all the same to have his prediction so tragically proven wrong. He had promised Isabel that everything would be all right. Not just in the beginning, not just six months ago, not just twelve hours ago, not just ten seconds ago, but right now in his heart he was making that promise. Yet, he was mocked by the reality of the situation. He was a liar thanks to their current circumstances.

His throat was tight and his hands trembled. He wanted to touch her, hold her, promise her out loud again and again that everything would be all right. She recoiled when he first tried and then ignored the shattered look that splashed and remained in his royal-colored eyes. His heart seized up; he supposed he was in the right place to have a heart attack at such a young age. His hair was worse off than usual, going in directions that surely had Sir Isaac Newton spinning in his grave. His eyes flooded with unshed tears, lines dug into his face like trenches. She appeared to be far worse off.

She could not bear to look at him with her broken emerald eyes. Eyes that reflected nothing from the world, but showed all of the barren sorrow of her soul. A soul that was withering faster than a plucked, neglected rose.

Her usually milky skin seemed sickly now, jaundiced, making it seem like it was accurate for her to be in a hospital bed. She lacked a shine, a flare. It was almost as if her skin planned to peel like old, dry paint. Her body was still, as if she were not even breathing. She wished that were case. Better her than …

“I’m glad you’re okay …” Kane whispered, hoping those words did something for her.

Isabel closed her eyes, tears falling, running over her nose and left cheek. “Leave,” she hissed.

“Bella—”

“Leave!” she shrieked, sounding so shrill that a banshee would have fled the area holding its ears.

Kane sighed and did as she ordered. He left the stale hospital room. The sound of the door shutting practically stabbed her in the heart. She sobbed loudly as soon as she was certain that she was alone. Kane heard and winced.

“You said the wrong thing, didn’t you?” Victoria asked him in rather accusing tone, as if being angry with him would make matters better. She seemed to realize that would not do immediately and glanced away, her eyes shifting from furious to sorrowful.

The blonde was holding onto Matteo. Her mother had the mischievous duo, who seemed to know that they should be on their best behavior. Isabella gripping their tiny hands with a certain type of firmness helped their knowledge. The grandmother tried her best to be stern, even at the moment.

“I think my being was the wrong thing. Could you two take the kids for a while?” Kane begged with his head bent down so that his eyes only saw the poorly tiled floor.

“We will hold them. Take care of her,” Isabella said with surprising directness, enough to get her son-in-law to lift his head.

Kane nodded, even though his Isabel-confidence was shaken to the core right now. His eyes showed that quiver, which the mother and daughter noted. Their matching eyes, mirrored a similar, yet less intense quake. Other eyes, sapphire, emerald, and amethyst, were only confused; _what’s going on? Where’s Mommy?_

“Okay, you little mutants,” Kane said with false cheer and a forced grin. “You three better be good for your grandmother and auntie!” he announced.

Usually, the kids would have cheered loudly, but they could tell the grim atmosphere. They mumbled their agreements, knowing instinctively not to disagree. They did have questions, though, especially the usually quiet, parroting Sheshona.

“For how long?” the little girl asked curiously, voice oddly low.

“Not long. Don’t worry, you know Grandma will take good care of you,” Kane pointed out.

“And Mommy?” she continued on.

“I’ll take care of Mommy,” he promised. And then she had to ask the one question he really did not know how to answer.

“And Brother?”

Kane was silent for a moment. He wanted to glance up, as if Isabella’s eyes would enlighten him and tell him how to explain things to his daughter. He knew that she had no more answers than he did at the moment. He found himself answering in words that he never considered until that moment.

“God will take care of him,” the father promised.

“God?” Sheshona echoed in quite the bewildered tone. Her face twisted in non-comprehension.

“Jason told me about him. He’s a guy with a lot of power that makes sure people do the right thing,” Hadrian explained as best he could. He did not make it a point to listen to the man that claimed to be his father, as that was a sure sign of madness in and of itself, in his opinion.

“How’s he gonna help Brother?” Sheshona wondered aloud.

“Fuck if I know,” Hadrian admitted with a shrug. He just knew who the guy was, not what he did in his spare time or how he could help little kids.

“You two should work on the children’s spirituality when you have a chance,” Isabella seemed to scold Kane.

Kane nodded as if his head was on a string. She could probably have told him to learn to grow eight arms and she was certain he would have nodded. She decided it would be best to hold her reprimands for her daughter and son-in-law when things were in order.

“Call if you need anything,” Victoria said to Kane.

“Either of us,” Isabella added in.

Kane nodded again. He embraced each of his children. Victoria also decided to give Kane a hug, hoping that it would help. If his end of it was anything like her end, she realized that there would be no helping so early on. Apparently, this was one of those things that only time would heal, and even then, they were both certain that the scar that remained would fester. It did not help that she and Kane were quite impatient when it came to plenty of things.

When his family, in-laws and offspring, were gone, Kane took the moment to break down. He collapsed to the cold, tiled floor and wailed as if he was in dire agony. The hospital staff that was around knew the problem and knew to leave him be.

“My son …” he whispered into the floor as tears slid from his eyes, across his nose, and onto the tile.

Of course, now he could weep for his son, but not too long ago, he had actually prayed for it to be his son. He begged with whatever divine being that might be. He implored that out of the two of them, please, leave him his Bella. Let him have her. Surprisingly enough, his prayer was answered. He got his Bella and they lost their son. He had never felt so happy and pained at the same time.

He knew that he could never tell Isabel what he asked for. She was already crushed enough, which was not good considering that she had been so close to death not too long ago. But, still, he was so grateful that she was alive and absolutely dashed that the baby had died.

Kane did not stay like that for more than a minute, being quite conscious of where he was. He straightened himself out as best he could and turned to stare at the room his beloved was in. He decided to brave entering on last time. Her back was to him, yet she was still quite aware of his presence.

“I said leave!” she screamed at him.

When the door closed, Isabel knew that she was alone again. Her tears had dried up, but their stains remained. It all remained the same as before.

She stared blankly at the wall, eyes focused on nothing in particular. There was nothing of the world to focus on, except the vast emptiness inside of her. Her mind wandered, stuck on one thought aside for the tremendous weight on her shoulders that involved losing the baby. Her mind echoed: _Mommy was right_. Her mother had been so very right.

She did not have the strength to allow any other thoughts to haunt her. She was worn out in every way imaginable, exhausted physically from losing so much blood, fatigued spiritually by having a stillborn, and strained emotionally from costing Kane his newest child.

“Weakling …” Isabel whispered harshly to the air. She was speaking about herself.

-8-8-8-8-

“This sort of thing is normal, isn’t it?” Kane asked curiously, quietly. He was speaking to Isabella. He was parked at her table, in her house, sipping tea made by her hands from cups belonging to her. Despite it all being hers, it was his hands that trembled as he held the cup, his eyes that stared at the white tablecloth with shattered expectations, and his heart that felt like it was ready to explode.

“You being here asking advice of me or her being detained at the hospital for a few days?” Isabella inquired as she pulled up the chair next to him, her own tea waiting.

“I dunno. Both?” He shrugged. He was not really familiar with either situation.

“Due to the situation and the fact that I know you’re slower than frozen mud, I’ll be frank with you, yes, this sort of thing is normal, in both senses. We are family, after all, Kane,” she replied in an even tone. “Never be afraid to talk to me, just know that I will treat you in the same exact manner that I treat my daughters.”

He sighed, as if her words lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders. Even still, it felt like the weight of the universe was crushing his once powerful shoulders. Now, those parts ached, just like the rest of him.

“She’ll be fine, Kane. You know how strong she is. Give her time and keep giving her your support, like always. I know she’s back to biting you and burning you like before, but she’s in pain this time. Bear with her.”

“I intend to.”

Isabella nodded somewhat. “Yes. I have no doubt.” She would never say it out loud, but she was proud of Isabel for marrying Kane and she was thankful that he was in her daughter’s life.

They were silent for a few moments. The house did not have any noise; Victoria had taken the children out with the hope of getting things back to normal. Sips from the tea did bounce off the walls, but not so loudly.

“Kane,” Isabella said out of the blue.

“Yes?” he replied.

“We are family,” she repeated.

He nodded to show that he understood. “I was so happy that she lived …”

“We all were.”

“In the same sense?” he dared to ask. His eyes searched her desperately to find out that she had thought the same thing, that he was not a monster for his prayers.

“You shouldn’t think about that anymore,” she replied, seeming to completely understand his vague question. She waved it off, as if that would banish it from his mind forever. “There is nothing you can do about it. Sometimes, we cannot help but be selfish, even at the worst of times.”

“Would I …” he could not even ask that. Again, his eyes said it all and hers responded, actually helping to put him at ease.

“Let’s rather hope to never know just what we’re capable of thinking. Have they told you when exactly she can return home with you?”

He shook his head. “They’re just trying to treat her first. She’s really depressed.”

“It’s understandable.”

He nodded, eyes focused on his beverage. “I suppose …” he mumbled. He could not really picture his Bella depressed, even though he had seen it with his own eyes not too long ago.

“Having never gone through these circumstances personally, I can only speculate on her thoughts to give you some help in what to expect.”

“I’ll take all I can get. I don’t wanna say something stupid to her when she finally comes home. I mean, she doesn’t even want to see me right now.”

“It has to do with what happened.”

“She blames me?” His eyes widened and his lungs decided that breathing was way too troublesome with such an idea in the air.

“Of course not. How would you be to blame? Isabel is a rational creature when given a chance and prone to her own odd logic fed by cynicism other times. Neither of those would be able to work blame onto you.”

“Then why doesn’t she want me to be in the same room as her?”

“Because she _failed you_ , Kane. She lost your son. I don’t think I have to tell you that she adores you. Despite the things she says to you and the fact that she hits you plenty, she loves you in ways that she probably doesn’t even realize. She has taken you so close to her heart that you can make her feel ashamed, which is quite the feat.”

“How can you be so sure? Maybe she just blames me. I’m the one that knocked her up, after all,” he mumbled miserably.

“It took two, of course, and she knows that. The problem was that she was the one carrying the child. That was her and her alone. It was her responsibility to bring a healthy baby into this world and she was unable to carry it out.”

“It wasn’t her fault, though. The doctors explained it.” Not that he had paid much attention to the explanation. How was he supposed to focus on their words? He had just lost a son and his beloved seemed to hate his guts. It was not entirely fair to explain something to him then.

“I know they did. Some things can’t be helped, but she isn’t going to listen to that. I know wouldn’t listen to it,” she informed him.

“You would assume it’s your fault too?” he asked curiously.

“I would,” she honestly told him. “I don’t think it’s something I could explain to you to help your understanding, but if this were me, I, too, would assume it was my fault the baby didn’t make it. And, I, too, would feel utterly miserably knowing I cost my husband another child, especially if he so adored them. I would feel worthless if I lost my own child, knowing how I feel about them.”

He nodded, as if that was all he could do for a moment. He tried to absorb the information, but it did not really take. He could not picture Isabella in the same condition as his Bella currently.

“Your husband …” the young man started, but he was not quite sure where he was going with his inquiry.

“A precious man, he was. Nothing like you,” she remarked, a ghost of a smile floating across her face for a moment.

“Bella doesn’t talk about her father, ever. She complains that I don’t talk about my parents much, but she never talks about her father,” he said. He was not sure where he was going with the topic now. Maybe he just wanted some escape from the horrible subject that they were stuck on, even if Isabella was trying to help him.

“She was rather young …”

“Did he die?” he guessed.

Isabella waved the question off, but he noticed that she swallowed hard as her neck tensed. It would seem that she did not want to talk about it anymore than Isabel did. Kane nodded, accepting that. He guessed that they were going to have to go back to his unpleasant topic rather than on her unpleasant topic.

“Do you think she’ll get better?” he inquired quietly.

“Of course. You just have to give her time, like you always do. You’ll be fine, Kane, as long as you’re patient and strong,” she replied.

Kane nodded; he was not too sure if he had any strength left. He quickly squashed that thought. He would be there for his Bella, not just for her, himself, but also for their children. They needed their mother, after all.

“Kane, there’s a reason she’s with you, so prove your worth when she needs it,” Isabella seemed to be imploring him rather than making a simple statement.

“I’ll do my best,” he vowed.

Isabella nodded; she had no doubt in the young man before her. She sipped her tea calmly. Silence reigned over them once again.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane stood behind a wheelchair, which was holding the hunched over form of Isabel. She was hidden behind a curtain of dull raven locks, flanking both sides of her pale face. Her eyes stared at nothing, into nothing, reflecting nothing. She did not move and barely breathed.

He accepted that for now; at least she was not screaming at him to leave. She allowed him to come get her from the hospital instead of requesting that her mother or sister do so. So, those had to be some signs of progress, however little it was.

Isabel did not move as Kane lifted her from the wheelchair to the car. Passersby were a little impressed with the show of strength on his part as he easily picked up his much taller wife. He also had no problem balancing her weight, having had a lot of practice in carrying her in such a way.

The ride home was silent. The pressure in the car was thick, but not crushing. It was more like slow suffocation. Luckily, he was able to get them home before they died in the vehicle.

He opened her door, but she did not make any moves to step out in the yard. He did not say a word and just gathered her up in his arms. He carried her up the walkway and to the door. He kicked the door to knock; Isabella answered.

Isabella was babysitting for Kane while he had to go get Isabel. She was also trying to prepare the children for when their mother returned. They seemed to understand as best they could; all she told them was “Mommy’s sick, so you have to be on your best behavior.” They nodded earnestly.

For the first time when Kane walked in the door, he was not tackled by any of his children. They were in the living room, peeking around the entrance, looking into the foyer. Kane noticed them almost immediately.

“C’mon out and say hi to Mommy, guys,” Kane beckoned them.

The trio charged over, but found their voices failed them. They had never seen their mother look so much like a zombie. Their eyes widened at the sight of her.

“Hi, Mommy,” the three children said weakly. They seemed more scared to talk loudly than because of shock. What if loud voices disturbed their obviously ill mother, after all?

Kane continued on his way after that, knowing that Isabella would handle the kids. He took Isabel upstairs and put her in their bed. He brushed her hair out of her eyes.

“It’ll—” he started to say.

“Leave me be,” she breathed out.

He nodded and exited the room. Apparently, they were not out of the woods yet. No, they were far from it.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kane works on healing his broken wife while also trying to manage their three wild kids with help from Isabella and Victoria.


	15. Helping hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, or Matteo; Disney does. I do own Kane, Isabel, Isabella, and Victoria.

14: Helping hand

 _This ceiling again_ , she thought as she opened her eyes. She sounded quite downtrodden even in her own head. Why she expected a different ceiling every morning, she did not know. _Perhaps, I should stop sleeping on my back_ , she considered. But, then again, turning over even halfway seemed like such a bother and she would hate to trouble Kane with such a request. He was doing so much already, after all.

A part of her mind cautioned her that it was much too early in the morning for such thoughts, but she wandered down that path just the same. She found it a struggle to open her eyes to wake while Kane was running around with the kids, making sure they were fine, and taking care of her. He was doing everything by himself, taking it on his tiny, little, but very strong shoulders and pressing forward, she gathered from the little that she could gather from her permanent status in the bed.

 _Useless…_ she hissed in her own mind. She could barely muster the energy to breathe, yet Kane carried on as if he had the power of the universe at his disposal.

 _I’m so fucking useless_ , she told herself. _When the hell did this happen? When did I become fucking useless?_ She could not put an exact date to it, but the question haunted her just the same. _When I met him? When I started thinking that I knew everything, which was way before I met him? When he somehow gained power over me?_ _No, I doubt that_. That last one was a question all unto itself, but probably had some relation to her first.

 _How did he gain power over me?_ Power enough to make her feel the most unnecessary of all emotions: no, not love, but shame. Her mother had made sure that emotion withered in her at a young age. He had managed to resurrect it and it poured out full force like a hurricane within her right now. She was ashamed for failing to do what she was supposed to do, deliver him a healthy baby. She cost them their child.

She would give anything to have the baby back. She would have given her own blood to the baby, breathed her own breath into the child, and transferred her own soul to their little boy if she could. She would have done anything just to let him live, just for Kane to have another son. Her heart constricted in her chest from the thought and for a moment, she considered that she might retch … again.

On and off sickness was now a part of her daily routine. She was not sure how long it had been going on, as time had lost all meaning to her within the room. For all she knew, those four walls could have been watching her for hours, days, or even years. It did not help matters that she was in and out of consciousness numerous times in the day. She had yet to gain any control over passing out, which made her suspect that she had not been there for too long. She liked to think that she would be able to will her body awake with enough practice.

She actually lived in her own head now. It was something that she was only vaguely aware of, even though she would never admit it to herself. People came and went out of the room, but she hardly noticed them. She did not speak to them; all of her dialogue took place in her mind, with herself and the demons currently haunting her living space. Despite all of that, she was, for some reason, under the impression that when she was awake she was completely lucid; yet, she was unaware of the large racket going on right underneath her. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Hadrian, what the hell?” Kane shouted when he saw the mess in the kitchen.

“It’s Matt! He keeps throwing his fucking oatmeal at me!” Hadrian complained. He was standing in the middle of the kitchen, covered in the aforementioned cereal. The problem was, Matteo was currently wearing his big brother’s breakfast as well, complete with the bowl on his head.

“Nasty,” Matteo complained while licking some of the oatmeal off of his cheeks.

“Just because you don’t like the taste of it doesn’t mean you should throw it around,” Kane scolded both boys while getting a rag to clean them up. “Why do I even bother, bathing and dressing you and then giving you breakfast after that, so you can wreck all my hard work?”

Hadrian and Matteo shrugged; they did not know the answer to that question. They did know enough to strip out of their ruined clothes and go upstairs for new ones. They did not know enough to pick the clothing up off of the floor, though. Kane gathered their garments.

Kane was marching upstairs when he realized he had only dealt with two-thirds of his usual mad crew. He decided to go check on Sheshona since Hadrian was trusted enough to watch over Matteo for a few minutes. Like her brothers, Kane had bathed and dressed Sheshona that morning, so he was a bit surprised to find her back in bed and sound asleep.

“I’d envy you if I didn’t have to wake you up,” Kane remarked.

Kane shook Sheshona, who mumbled a string of swear words while being taken from her sleep; they could have been directed at her father or at her dream considering how she was. She sat up and rubbed her eye with the chubby hand that came along with being a toddler.

“The hell, Daddy?” she complained in a grumble.

“You fell back to sleep, Shona. You know you have to get up and be ready for when Grandma comes. You don’t wanna keep Grandma waiting, right?” he asked.

Sheshona shook her head vigorously, causing her father to chuckle a little bit. He picked her up out of the bed and sighed when he noticed how wrinkled her clothes were. He groaned; they were going to have to pick out a new outfit if he did not want to be reprimanded by Isabella when she arrived.

“Okay, Shona, we’ve got to change your clothes. What do you want to wear?” Kane inquired while pulling open her closet doors.

“Hmm …” Sheshona thought on it long and hard, tapping a stubby finger to her smooth chin. “The green shirt.” 

Kane nodded and grabbed the green shirt, which had a picture of Oscar the Grouch on it. He yanked off her wrinkled white shirt and tossed it behind him, which was where he had put the boys’ soiled clothing too. She worked herself into the shirt on her own, earning a head-rub from him.

“Okay, you make your way downstairs, and try not to touch any of the mess your brothers made,” Kane instructed.

Sheshona nodded and charged off, making it hard to believe that she just woke up. Kane went to go check on his loopy sons next. He got them together yet again and then went to go collect all of the dirty clothes that he left so carelessly in the middle of the hall. On his way back, he noticed Sheshona; apparently, she did not make it downstairs.

Sheshona was standing in front of her parents’ room … or she supposed it was just “Mommy’s room” now. Her father went in there from time to time, but never stayed a great length of minutes. She guessed it was because her mother was still sick. 

Kane found his daughter’s manner and expression unreadable; this was not the first time that he caught her there at the door. _Is she starting to get overwhelmed with no female presence dominating the house? Is she missing whatever special brand of affection only a mother could give? Is she just worried that her mother doesn’t seem to be getting better? Is she contemplating going into the room to check on her mother herself?_ He did not know and the child never offered an explanation.

“Shona, c’mon, you have to eat breakfast,” Kane said as he went over to the child.

“Is Mommy gonna come out today?” she asked curiously, eyes still on the room.

“I don’t know. I think Mommy’s still sick.”

“That sucks,” she muttered. He was not sure where she was picking up that sort of language, but considering some of the other things the kids said that was practically benign.

Kane nodded in agreement before taking Sheshona’s hand and leading her away from the door. It did suck. He could only hope it would end soon.

“We could go see her?” Sheshona asked curiously out of the blue. It was the first time that such a question had left her mouth.

“See who? Mommy?” Kane countered.

“Yeah. I wanna see her,” Sheshona said.

“I don’t think you should see her yet. She’s very sick. She needs sleep and everything,” he explained. Honestly, he feared that she would treat the children the way that she treated him. He knew that would just break their hearts and he wanted to save them that sort of ache.

Sheshona nodded to show she understood, but frowned quite decisively. When they hit the kitchen, Hadrian was trying to clean up the mess that he and Matteo made. Matteo was standing off to the side, staring at his feet. Kane sighed.

“Thanks, little prince, but Daddy’ll handle that,” Kane informed the eldest. “Everybody just make sure they stay clean until Grandma gets here.”

The children nodded. Kane suspected that the kids, despite their young age, recognized his effort. Even though they had moments, they were much more docile than they were a couple of months ago. But, then again, he supposed that they could just miss their mother and they were miserable in their own ways.

The children were in the middle breakfast when they heard the front door open. No one moved or cheered; they sat at the small table in the kitchen and finished off their cereal. Kane continued cleaning up the mess.

“Another morning food fight?” Isabella observed in a dull tone as she walked to the kitchen entrance.

“Apparently, they don’t like my oatmeal either,” Kane answered with a hollow laugh.

“I suppose you should stop cooking before they do more than damage the kitchen. Would you want to see these three in a riot?” she remarked, nodding toward the eating children.

Kane managed a chuckle that sounded a little lively while Isabella gathered “the troops.” They knew the drill by now, getting up when “ordered” and following their grandmother out to the car. They shouted their goodbyes to their father, but never really spared him a glance. Maybe, they did not recognize his effort after all, Kane considered.

“Once again, a kicked puppy,” he muttered with despair, dropped his head and slumping his shoulders.

He did not dwell on that thought and gathered up items for Isabel’s breakfast. He had to be careful of what he attempted to feed her as she would only chew so much. Anything more complicated than a very ripe banana would never reach her stomach. So, for breakfast, she would have yogurt, applesauce, and apple juice.

“Good morning, Bella,” Kane said in a cheerful voice as he entered the bedroom with a tray in his hand.

Her eyes followed him as he moved about the room, but she did not say anything. She watched him open the blinds and wondered what he was doing. When the sunlight poured into the dreary room, she still could not quite figure out why he had opened the blinds.

“It’s a little stuffy in here, isn’t it? I’ll open the windows,” he proclaimed and did as much.

She still did not make a sound. He was only aware of her wakefulness because she was watching him work. Her eyes locked on his when he approached the bed and put the tray down before her.

“Sorry it’s not first class. I’m not very good with cooking yet. I doubt I’ll ever actually learn, so hopefully, you’ll snap out of this before me and the monsters starve to death,” he remarked, forcing out a grin. She did not as much as blink from that joke.

Despite her silence, Kane did his best to make conversation. He told her about what the children had done that morning and that they were off with Isabella again. He made sure that she knew Isabella would give the kids much better meals than he had offered. He suggested calling Victoria to cut her hair because it was getting rather long. Of course, Victoria would do a better job of it than he could, but she did not react to the proposal. He told her that he would give her a bath soon and change the sheets on the bed again. He doubted that any of that reached her if the look in her eyes was any indication of things.

Still, Kane pressed forward. He fed her breakfast. She was aware enough to open her mouth if she felt a spoon pressed to her lips; she was almost mechanical in that sense. Her body worked as if there was a button on her bottom lip that opened her mouth. She ate everything served to her, too. He made sure to keep talking while she ate. He never said anything patronizing, just clear, everyday conversation. And then, she acknowledged his presence.

“Leave,” she ordered in a tense voice.

Kane did not argue or protest; he was used to this by now. He left without word, taking the tray with him. Her eyes followed him out and when the door was cut, the eyes returned to the ceiling, glaring perfect hatred at the cream colored ceiling.

She mused about how pathetic she must seem now. How pathetic she had to look in his eyes. He fed her, bathed her, clothed her daily … she supposed it was daily, anyway. Time ran together in a blur and she had not kept count of how often he did those things. She just knew her limbs … no, her whole body was incapable of such simple tasks. Her body was eternally useless.

After all, it was her defective body that lost their baby. There were whispers of the contrary, but she could not recollect who those whispers were from or when they were said. It did not matter; _I probably imagined those whispers_ _to try to ease the guilt_. Yes, more than likely to soften the impact of the fact that her weak body failed their baby. And now, it was making her appear utterly pitiful in front of the man that she loved.

“Love?” she demanded in her head. _Who the hell said anything about loving him?_

 _Of course you love him. Or are you still in such denial? You don’t marry a man and have three or four children by him just on a whim_.

“I married him by accident.”

 _And all those kids? Those were accidents, too, right? Just too spur of the moment to wrap it up or you forgot to take your pill? Mistakes, of course! Excuse me while I laugh myself sick. You’re going to whine, mope, and lament how you failed him, and you did fuck up quite well, to lying to yourself and say you don’t love him? My, you are quite the pathetic bitch. I can’t imagine he’ll stick around much longer for this shit. He’ll probably take the kids with him_.

“Fuck you, he would never do that. You don’t know him.”

 _I know you’re just fucking up his life again. It’s like a hobby of yours_.

“Shut up. You don’t know this man. He is devoted to me—”

 _But, for how long? What have you ever done for him? Are you so devoted to him? It’s a good thing he never gets sick or we’d both know how quickly you’d run out on the little bastard_.

“I would do anything for Kane.”

 _Yeah, like kill his son_.

“Fuck you!”

 _No, fuck Kane apparently. You don’t really give a damn about him at all, do you? You’re just the worst type of person, using him like this. You should be ashamed of yourself_.

“ …I am.” Isabel’s eyes shifted, looking at the floor.

 _But, then again, even your shame is worthless. I mean, really, who gives a fuck about you? The point of the matter is that you’re pathetic and useless and you even bore the fuck out of me_.

The argument ended with that and Isabel blacked out a few seconds later. Kane came in after she was sleeping, checking on her, moving her to make sure she did not get bedsores, and gathering her clothes for later when he had to bathe her. When he was done, he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

“Please get well soon, Bella. I’m here for you and I always will be,” he vowed. Her face seemed to relax from those words.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane’s existence sort of reminded him of Isabel’s. He did the same thing day in and day out, floating through the world, vaguely aware of it. He was not too sure if Isabel was even vaguely aware of the world, except for the fact that she knew him. She knew he was there enough to watch him move around her and to order him to leave whenever he was done with things in the room. He knew enough of the world to take care of the kids and Isabel; the former half of his load was left to Isabella or Victoria most of the day.

He sighed. “I’m pathetic …” he whispered to the dark ceiling.

He was sleeping on the floor in the living room, his new bedroom. He had been tempted a few times to go lie in bed next to Isabel. He was banking toward her waking out of her trance and pummeling him, but the other option frightened him too much to go through with that plan. He did not want to do something that harmed her further, that drove her deeper into herself, that possibly caused her to shut down permanently.

He shuddered and grimaced just thinking about how Isabel could possibly react to him lying next to her. He remembered how she reeled in disgust the last time he tried to touch her and she was aware of it. It was only a simple brush of his hands on her arm, but her eyes widened while her body jerked away from him. He thought it was odd that she did react positively to him in her sleep, but he took that as a good sign. She was not utterly repulsed by him.

The only time that she allowed him to touch her now was when he was going to bathe her. Even then, it was a sort of touch-and-go process. She would cringe when he first came to collect her, but eventually she would settle down or pass out, and he was able to at least clean her off. It was always a struggle, though. One time, she even fainted when he touched her, which was quite the blow to his shrinking ego.

Kane’s thoughts were interrupted as his ears picked up noise near the staircase. He could tell the light footsteps of the kids. _They’re like midget ninjas_ , he thought. He wondered who was not in bed.

He flipped over onto his stomach to face the opening of the living room. Now, Hadrian and Sheshona were practically the same height, even though Hadrian was a year older, so it would be hard to tell which one of them it was if it was one of them. But, one key thing gave the ninja away, a blanket. All of Hadrian’s blankets were long, adult-sized covers. This blanket was short, just enough to cover a small body, so he knew Sheshona was walking into the room.

“Shona, why aren’t you in bed?” he asked curiously.

“Stupid shadows,” she grumbled, her face twisting in anger. “No fireflies to help,” she added in a mumble.

He chuckled, knowing she was referring to both actual shadows and her dreams; the things that she still sometimes argued with in half-sleeping states. The “fireflies” were supposed to protect her, but they did not seem to work unless her mother was there to sing to her. So, she was currently being haunted by her “shadows.” 

He waved her over, even though she was coming anyway. She covered the ground quickly, taking long strides with her short legs. She flopped down next to him without asking, not that he would deny her permission. She settled in on top of his blanket, using her own to cover her. She was sleeping almost as soon as she hit the floor. He chuckled a bit to himself while staring down at his little girl.

“Sleep tight, Sheshona,” Kane said while leaning over and kissing her forehead. She smiled in her sleep.

In the morning, the routine started up and it ran on and on. Soon, Sheshona sleeping in the living room became part of that routine. She let Kane put her in her bed, but in the middle of the night, she went into the living room. She worked her way from sleeping next to him to sleeping on his back, forcing him to sleep on his stomach, which he eventually just had to get used to because Sheshona refused to go back to her room once she was downstairs.

“Daddy …” Sheshona muttered in his shoulder.

“Yes, Shona?” Kane inquired. He was banking on her just talking in her sleep, but he found out that was not the case.

“I like cartoons.”

“I do, too,” he said to humor her. He could tell from her quiet voice that she was about to fall asleep.

“I know. Let’s watch cartoons tomorrow.”

“No problem.”

She nodded into his shoulder and then fell asleep. He made sure to keep that promise and the next day he watched cartoons with her, Hadrian, and Matteo. The cartoons got the kids fired up and after that, they wanted to go outside. He had no problem taking them out into the yard.

“Hey, let’s fight!” Hadrian suggested as soon as they hit the grass.

“Daddy’s on my team!” Sheshona declared.

“Fine, me and Matt’ll beat you anyway!” Hadrian proclaimed.

“Nah-uh!” Sheshona charged her big brother.

So, they tumbled around in the backyard for a little while. Sheshona and Hadrian mostly fought while Kane pretended to get beaten up by Matteo. After a while, Kane could see it was time for naps, so he cleaned them off and put them to bed. Once the trio was down for the afternoon, Kane went about his duties for Isabel.

He checked in on her and to see if she was awake. Her eyes snapped to him as soon as he opened the door. The look made him hesitant because his heart leaped a bit. He smiled at her and stepped in for a moment.

“I’ll bring your lunch soon, Bella. I was just playing with the kids for a while and that’s why I haven’t been in here much today. You know, you should get up. I mean, it’s a beautiful day and the kids are in a good mood for teaching them martial arts. You know I’m not good at that stuff, so I just kinda let them go with a free-for-all. They’re dying for instruction, so you know you have to get up,” Kane urged her.

Isabel looked off to the side, which he took as her answer. He disappeared out of the room to go get Isabel some lunch. Her eyes drifted downward when he was gone.

“The kids…”

 _Don’t even think about them. They don’t want to see you. They know you’re pathetic and useless, too_.

“Kane never said that.”

 _He’s just trying to spare your feelings. Why do you think he never brings the kids in here? He wants them to forget about you because he’s going to take them with him once he wises up and leaves. Besides, not like you’d talk to them or anything. You only say one word to that short bastard_. _What the fuck would you say to the kids?_

“I could talk…”

 _And tell them what? How you’re an asshole for losing their little brother. Yeah, I’m sure they’ll love to hear that_.

“You’re right…”

The conversation was ended there. Kane came back with lunch. He made a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich since it would not involve much chewing to eat it. He brought her apple juice to go with it. Isabel was compliant as always when it came to meals.

“You seem a little more up to working. Should I bring you something other than soup for dinner tonight? I’m planning to order out if Isabella doesn’t make something. The kids hate my cooking,” he admitted with a nervous grin.

Isabel locked eyes with him. The intensity of her gaze caused him to gulp. She just stared for a few seconds.

“Kane …” Isabel said, almost as if she was testing the name on her tongue, which had fallen into disuse considering how often she spoke.

Kane’s wits abandoned him for several long moments; he was fairly sure the last time that she said his name was a couple of months ago, before she went to the hospital. “Yes, Bella?” he inquired in a shaky voice.

She licked her lips, needing a moment to get her thoughts together. A request was on the tip of her tongue. She ended up swallowing it.

“Leave,” she ordered.

Kane sighed, bowing his head from fatigue, but he did leave. He guessed that he was wrong for hoping that she would say something else. He dismissed it from his mind while starting to make lunch for the kids. They would have the same thing as their mother.

-8-8-8-8-

“Daddy, let’s watch more cartoons after this,” Hadrian suggested. He and his siblings were sitting at the dining room table to eat their lunch. They all swing their legs back and forth as they were all much too short for their feet to reach the floor.

“No problem,” Kane answered and then he caught sight of Matteo, frowning at his sandwich. “Hey, your mini-majesty, what’s wrong?” the father asked gently as he went to kneel beside the youngest.

“You forgot to cut it,” Sheshona pointed out as she peered over at her baby brother’s sandwich.

“Oh! Silly me!” Kane quickly corrected his mistake.

“Is Grandma coming here today?” Hadrian asked curiously.

“She has to if we wanna eat tonight,” Kane remarked.

The kids did not totally get that joke, but they knew that their grandmother or aunt came over to cook meals. They were much better chefs than Kane, the kids all noted. They did secretly think that their mommy’s cooking was the best, but only a very brave soul would say that to their grandmother.

Isabella did show up that night. She found Kane on the sofa, the kids sleeping on him. She shook her head at the sight, but smiled a little. She did not say anything to Kane, who was staring at a black screen on the television. He was probably just reveling in the quiet, she thought.

She made her way upstairs before anything else. She went to Isabel’s room and stared at her daughter. Isabel stared back. Both looks were intense, unyielding, and unreadable. Before a minute passed, Isabella left the room, closing the door quietly.

“Is she getting better?” the middle-aged woman wondered. She was not sure. She made a tight fist and growled in a low tone while cursing herself for not being able to directly help her daughter.

She then went to fix dinner. When the smell hit the living room, she suddenly had company, all less than three feet tall. They looked up at her with hopeful eyes.

“Dinner will be done in a few minutes. Go tell your daddy to wash your hands for you,” Isabella stated.

“Do it ourselves,” Hadrian declared. His siblings concurred and they were off to wash their own hands before Isabella could object.

“They’ll be fine,” Isabella muttered to the unconcerned air.

She could imagine how the bathroom had to look after the trio returned. It looked more like they took showers fully clothed rather than just washed their hands. She supposed that it was too late to be bothered by that. Kane was up and about by the time they came back too.

“Here, Daddy, sit next to me,” Sheshona requested as she pulled out her chair.

“Okay,” Kane agreed while serving the kids. He served everyone, including Isabella because she always felt that once the food was made, everyone was on their own to get it.

Isabella watched as Kane sat down next to Sheshona. She noted the child’s smile and then went to her dinner. The family ate quietly and Kane cleared the table while the kids charged off to watch some television before bedtime came. Isabella watched her son-in-law.

“Shona seems to be latching onto you,” Isabella commented quietly.

“Yeah. Is it a bad thing?” Kane asked since it was being brought up.

“No. More normal than anything else. She’s the one that asks the most about their brother and Isabel. Matteo doesn’t understand what happened really and Hadrian accepted the hundredth explanation of the situation. Shona, though …” she trailed off.

“I thought you did a fine job explaining everything. Shona’s never really asked me about what happened.”

Isabella nodded. “She hasn’t asked anything lately.”

“Thank you for explaining everything.”

“Don’t mention it. They are my grandchildren, after all. How do you feel, Kane?” she inquired, knowing no one else in his life would think to ask him.

“A little tired, but I’m fine. You or Vic taking the kids most of the time keeps me from getting really exhausted. I’m just hoping that Bella gets out of this sometime soon.”

Isabella nodded in agreement. She then got up and went upstairs again. She entered Isabel’s room, finding the younger woman just as she was before. They locked eyes again.

“I know at least some part of you has to be rational and completely awake, so listen carefully. You have a beautiful family waiting for you. I think that your husband will wait forever. The children still ask when you’re going to get better. I can’t understand your feelings on this matter, but I do know that there are people here to help you and to bear your burden with you. You are not in this alone,” Isabella said plainly.

The middle-aged woman approached the bed and did something that no one even bothered to attempt when Isabel was so clearly awake: she touched her daughter. She rubbed Isabel’s forehead. Isabel did not flinch or scream as she would have done in the past. She just closed her eyes, seeming to appreciate the contact.

“We’re all here for you, Izzie,” Isabella whispered.

“Mommy …” Isabel said in a ragged voice.

They did not speak anymore words, just stayed as they were for several minutes. Isabel fell asleep in that time. Isabella quietly left the room. She eventually returned home after helping put the children to bed. After she left, Kane made sure to fed Isabel and after that he laid down. He was just drifting off to sleep when he felt a pressure on his back.

“Night, Shona,” Kane whispered, knowing she was now resting on him.

“Night, Daddy,” Sheshona replied with a yawn as she settled her head into his shoulder, which was her pillow.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Sheshona and Kane grow closer while Isabel makes strides toward getting better.


	16. One step at a time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, or Matteo; Disney does. I do own Kane, Isabel, Isabella, and Victoria.

15: One step at a time 

“Hey, Daddy, what shirt?” Sheshona asked curiously while staring in her closet. She was able to pluck out the two that she wanted to choose from and she displayed them for her father.

“Hmm …” Kane said, as if he was seriously contemplating. He folded his arms across his chest and put his finger to his chin. “That is a tough decision. Now, if you where the Oscar the Grouch one, you obviously want to live in a trashcan. If you where the Kermit the Frog one, you like running from Miss Piggy,” he remarked.

Sheshona shook her head. “I don’t like Miss Piggy.”

“Well then, if you don’t wanna attract her attention, you might wanna put on the Grouch.”

Sheshona seemed to think on it, but suddenly chucked the Kermit shirt on the floor. She wiggled into the Oscar the Grouch shirt, requiring some help from her father because it was difficult to get over her head thanks to all of her hair. Kane freed her ebony mane from the shirt collar and straightened her out, earning a small smile from the child. He could not help smiling back.

Once they were done, Sheshona grabbed Kane’s hand as he went to go check on the boys. Hadrian was dressed on his own, and it showed from the way his shirt was halfway tucked into his pants, which were not cuffed even though they needed to be. Kane went and straightened the boy out. There was some slight protesting from Hadrian that he could do it himself, but he allowed his father to fix everything anyway.

Onward to the last child after Hadrian was ready. Matteo was still too small to think about dressing himself, but that did not mean that he could not get into other things while waiting for his father in the morning. He managed to climb over the little guardrail of his bed and was lazily throwing toys around the room out of his toy chest.

“Okay, your-freaking-mini-majesty, nice mess,” Kane remarked sarcastically.

“No, Matt! No mess,” Sheshona ordered while storming over to her brother to yank a toy out of his hand as he prepared to throw it.

Matteo stuck his tongue out at Sheshona while yanking his arm away from her. It was harder than he imagined, but eventually she let him go. Kane picked him up right after that.

Once the youngest was ready, the routine of the day began. Kane poured the trio individual bowls of their favorite cereals. Hadrian and Sheshona had milk added while Matteo ate his dry; he was not to be trusted with liquids that did not have tops just yet. While they ate, their father prepared breakfast for Isabel.

Kane was running on automatic by that time and went to take breakfast up to Isabel while the kids were still finishing up their food. Sheshona watched her father head for the stairs and slid out of her chair. Hadrian looked at her as if she was being strange.

“Where you going?” the eldest inquired.

“Follow Daddy,” Sheshona answered honestly while leaving the room.

Sheshona climbed the stairs after her father. She made it to her mother’s room shortly after her father entered. For some reason, she felt like she was doing something naughty as she peeked into the room, looking in on her parents. She caught a glimpse of her mother when her father moved from blocking her path.

“Mommy …” Sheshona whispered, almost as if she was in awe, like she was beholding some mythological creature. She was not sure when the last time was that she saw her mother in person, but she knew it was a long time; it was actually over three months ago.

She watched as her father tried to make conversation with Isabel, as was his usual. He smiled all the way through while Isabel did not seem to even know he was there. Sheshona frowned; her mother could at least speak to her daddy.

The sound of the front door opening drew Sheshona’s attention; she knew that her grandmother had just come in. Still feeling as if she was doing something wrong, she dashed away from the door. She made it halfway down the stairs before she spotted her grandmother.

“What were you doing up there, Shona?” Isabella inquired curiously. Her face was as stern as always and her voice was almost the same. Her granddaughter’s heart was pounding in her ears because of those things, thinking that she was surely about to get in trouble.

“Um … want Daddy,” Sheshona answered with a slight quiver in her throat.

“You should leave your daddy alone for right now. You can play with him later, okay?” Isabella stated.

Sheshona nodded and trotted over to her grandmother. Isabella collected the boys. Hadrian happened to be drinking the milk out of his cereal at the time. She waited for him to finish before taking the three out to her car.

“Kane, we’re leaving!” Isabella hollered upstairs.

“Bye, Daddy!” the trio screamed.

Kane was just leaving the room, appearing quite dejected until he heard them calling up to him. He grinned and shouted his goodbye down to them in a cheerful tone. He was not even at the foot of the stairs when he heard them leave. He sighed and wondered how much longer they would be living like this.

The days continued on, blurring together for almost everyone. Kane hardly noticed how he went from waking up on his own in order to get things ready for the children to Sheshona rising with him. He was able to get her prepared first and she would wake up her big brother for Kane while he went to handle Matteo.

Sheshona started helping Kane with breakfast too. He never made anything more complicated than cold cereal, but she would carry the bowls to the table for him. She would also handle carrying toast and juice to the table for him. She tended to do it with a smile too. 

“You’re so helpful, Shona,” Kane praised the girl, kissing the side of her head while she ate breakfast.

“Daddy helps everybody else, so I like helping Daddy,” Sheshona explained with a grin. She especially wanted to help since he protected her from the shadows at night. She figured as long as he did her that service, she could help him in any way necessary.

Kane smiled back; he thought that was a very good reason to help. He did not mind as long as Sheshona did not try to take on more than she could handle, which she often did try to do, but she would halt if ordered or it was proven that she could not do something. She knew that she was not tall enough to put the dishes in the sink, so she did not try. She knew that she was not supposed to pour juice, so she left the container alone. Things like that dictated their morning. Kane got very used to it, as did Sheshona.

One day, Sheshona decided to follow Kane upstairs to her mother’s room again. He noticed her, but really did not think anything of it now because Sheshona was always there with him; she was like his very tiny shadow. She braved entering the room with him, seeing her mother again for the first time in a couple of months.

“Good morning, Bella!” Kane declared brightly, like he did every morning that he went into the room.

Isabel followed him with her eyes as usual, but stopped when she noticed the other presence in the room. She locked eyes with her daughter, both set of jade orbs widening in surprise. Sheshona gulped and her throat seized up while her insides started to tremble. She could not help wondering why she felt like she was looking at a monster; maybe it was because her mother still appeared to be so sick, but her eyes seemed beyond ill.

Kane took note of the situation because he could not feel Isabel’s eyes on him. He turned around from opening the curtains to let the sun in and smiled widely. He then laughed, hoping to ease some of the tension away in the room before the pressure killed them all.

“I see you noticed your little visitor. Shona, say hi to Mommy. It’ll help her feel better,” Kane insisted.

Sheshona fixed her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She could not even fix her hand to wave at her mother. The one thing that she could do was turn around and she fled the room. Isabel flinched from the action.

“Don’t worry, Bella. She was just overwhelmed because she hasn’t seen you in so long. You should get better and then you could see them again. Maybe I could even bring them in here sometime,” Kane suggested.

Isabel looked toward her husband, her eyes suddenly pleading with him to read her mind. Her eyes begged him to stop the voice in her head that told her the kids hated her for losing their brother. He seemed to pick up on that; he could just see that she was hurting.

“The kids miss you, Bella. They know you’re sick and they’re waiting patiently for you to get better, but they do want you to get better. They want their mommy back. They want the mommy that cooks good food and shows them martial arts and tells the best bedtime stories ever. I want you back, too. We all miss you,” Kane explained in a sound, honest tone.

Isabel nodded, acknowledging for the first time that she could actually hear him. Kane felt his heart skip a beat. For once in a very long time, it would seem that she was expressing something beyond disdain for him, even if it was just a simple nod. He had just become so accustomed to her glaring eyes and cold one word order to every time that he entered the room. _Is this progress? Is she finally coming out of it?_

“So, maybe I could bring the kids in here tomorrow? I mean, they’re going out with your sister today, but tomorrow would be fine, right?” he asked, hoping that she would give him more. Show him that she was still alive in there.

“I would … like that …” Isabel managed to force out.

Kane nodded and grinned. He would make that happen for her then. When he left the room, he felt like he might float off into space from how light he was. His grin remained in place all day. Isabel was not so fortunate. Her eyes were now wide with worry and her eyebrows curled up in despair.

“Oh, my god, what did I just agree too?”

 _You just agreed to see your kids, who obviously hate you if Shona’s reaction means anything_.

“No, Kane said they missed me.”

 _He’s lying to make you feel better_.

“Why would he do that? He’s not that type of man. I might not be able to face him yet, but the least I can do is face the kids. I can’t leave them up to him for the rest of their lives. It’s not fair to him. Besides, I miss them.”

 _I’m sure they don’t miss you, though_.

“I cannot be a coward and spend the rest of my life in this bed, no matter how pathetic I am. I might not be able to face him yet, but I can’t lose my other kids with being so pitiful. I am not a coward. My mother did not raise me to be a coward.”

 _So, you’ll face them, but not Kane and you’re not a coward? Interesting since you’re not willing to face him because he can articulate his disgust and disappointment in you so much better than they ever could. Sure, you’ll see it in their faces, but with him, it’ll be on his face and on his tongue. Your armor’s not ready for that impact just yet, is it? No. We both know that_.

“Shut up.”

 _I can’t because it’s sickening that you’ll sit here and try to play all self-righteous like you are somebody because you’re willing to face a four-year-old, a three-year-old, and a one-year-old. That’s not bravery. That’s the easy route_.

“Shut up!”

 _I’m just saying that if you were really brave, you’d have spoken to the kids already. You’d have faced Kane. You’d have admitted to your mother that she was right, but you didn’t do any of that. You’re weak, Isabel. You know it, I know it, and now your whole family knows it. You’re nothing but a weakling. Admit it and just give up. Get out of this bed, walk out of the door, and never be seen again. Your family would be so much happier without you, especially Kane. I mean, do you think he likes wasting his time and days taking care of you? He’s a young man, in the prime of his life. He’s twenty-three for crying out loud! And we both know, he could get any woman that he goes after, but he’s wasting his time with you. If you love him, you’ll let him go_.

“Who says I do love him? Besides, even if I do love him, love is a selfish emotion. I don’t give a damn what others want you to believe. If I love him, I will keep him with me. Kane is _mine_.”

 _Such determination and grit, but really, does he even want to be yours? You’ve caused him nothing but trouble. You’re an asshole, after all_.

“That maybe so, but he is still mine. I won’t let him go.”

 _Yet you won’t go to him either_.

Isabel frowned; she hated the fucking voice in her head. She hated how it sounded so much like her. She hated how it voiced all of her fears. She hated how it would not shut up when she ordered it to. To tune it out, she decided to stop arguing and she fell asleep; it was the only solution that she had.

-8-8-8-8-

“Okay, Bella, I’m going to bring the kids in here today. You okay with that?” Kane inquired while setting her breakfast down in front of her. She nodded, agreeing with him. He resisted the urge to reach out and touch her, not wanting to press his luck. _She’ll see the kids and they’ll be happy and that’s good enough_ , he thought.

She ate quietly as always, eyeing him as if something was eating at her, as always. He met her eyes, smiling all the way through. He made sure to always do that, just so she would never get the idea that he was afraid of her or ashamed of her. He hoped that sometime soon his message reached her brain. 

“Okay, so, after you finishing eating, Vic’s going to come up here and comb your hair and everything and when she’s done, I’ll bring the kids up here. I won’t have them in here for too long if they bother you, so just let me know if you want them to leave by nodding or something, okay?” Kane asked.

Isabel nodded again. Soon, she was done with breakfast and Kane left. As soon as he was gone, Victoria was in the room with a comb and a brush. The younger woman smiled at her sister, who only stared in return. The blonde was not fazed and pulled up a chair next to her big sister.

“Good to see you again, Izzie. I haven’t been in here in a while. I dunno if you know, but Mommy was the one taking care of your hair for the last couple of weeks. It’s not that I didn’t want to see you, of course. I mean, you’re my fucking super cool big sister. It’s just a little depressing to see you so sad. I’m glad you decided to see the kids. They’re always wondering when Mommy’s gonna get better. So, now you can tell them that you’re starting to get better, right?” Victoria said, speaking her mind and working on her sister’s hair.

Isabel continued to just stare. Victoria pretended to not be fazed, keeping her smile going. On the inside, the younger sister’s hope withered just a little more. She was starting to fear that Isabel would always be as she was. After all, it had already been six months.

“Well, they’re gonna be happy to see you. I hope you give them lots of hugs; they love those, especially Matt. Be sure to hug Matt extra tight. Every time I hug the little bugger, he goes ‘Mommy’s better.’ I guess he doesn’t give a damn about Auntie’s pride in this case. Hadrian’s probably going to want to tell you about all the times he beat Shona up. Mommy took over training them. She said you were doing a good job and everything. I doubt she’ll ever say that to your face, though. They always tell her that you teach different from her, although I doubt that. You are Mommy, after all. You are little Izzie, which is why you should be getting out of this soon. I mean, come on! You’re strong, Izzie. You’re so damn strong and I know it hurts, but you have to pick up the pieces. We’re here for you and we’re waiting, dammit. We’re waiting because we miss you,” Victoria declared.

The blonde chuckled a bit out of the blue; it was a hollow sound without warmth. It did not come from her belly like all of her sincere laughs. It was out of her throat, like a dry cough.

The younger sister grinned suddenly, but looked ready to burst into tears. “I guess I’m being silly. I mean, I know you’re going to get out of this. You’re fucking _you_ , after all. It’s just that simple, right? I mean, of course, it’s just that simple.”

Isabel stared at her sister for a moment and then turned her eyes toward her hand. She looked at her hand and then she looked at her sister’s knee, which was close by her. She reached out slowly, going so slowly that Victoria could not help noticing. The movement seemed to exhaust Isabel as her hand practically dropped onto her sister’s knee. Victoria smiled.

“Yeah, you’re Isabel. I know you’ll make it through this,” Victoria said confidently.

Isabel kept her hand in place while her sister finished with her hair. Victoria then inspected the rest of her sister, assessing her to make sure that she was ready for the kids to see. The blonde nodded, more to herself than to her sister.

“I think you’re ready for them and I know they’re ready for you,” Victoria stated with a small smile.

The younger woman stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. Not even a second later, Kane opened the door and three little forms shuffled in. They appeared a bit confused, moving around the room as if they expected some sort of trap. They inched over to the bed.

“Hey, Mommy,” Hadrian said with a small wave. He really wanted to scream that with a grin, but he knew that his mother was sick and he needed to take it easy.

Isabel turned her eyes to them and smiled. She opened her mouth to speak, but a greeting refused to come. She opted to struggle to lift her hand and wave to them. Hadrian beamed from that, as did Matteo. Sheshona stared on, less than impressed.

“I wrote you a letter,” Hadrian boasted as he pulled a crumpled up paper out of his side pocket. He had to unfold it as well as take it out of the ball he had it in. He eyed it and flipped it upside down a few times. He then put it on the bed. “I’ll leave it for you,” he announced proudly.

“He can’t read,” Sheshona chuckled.

“Shut up! You can’t neither!” Hadrian pointed out.

“So? I no pretend,” Sheshona countered.

While the pair argued, Matteo reached out and touched his mother’s hand. He grinned widely when she looked down at him. He then held his arms up.

“Up!” Matteo pled, clutching the air with his pudgy little fingers.

“Matt, don’t push Mommy too much. Remember, she’s still kinda sick,” Kane warned the youngest.

“Up!” Matteo begged again anyway.

Kane turned his attention to Isabel, looking for some sign that she was bothered. She, in fact, appeared to be the opposite. Her eyes glazed over with sadness and looked pathetically at her arms, which would not move as much as she desired. Her husband said nothing as he walked over and picked Matteo up.

Kane set the baby up on the bed, coming very close to touching Isabel. Her arm flinched, expecting contact that never came. He noticed and quickly backed away from the bed. Sheshona craned an eyebrow to her parents’ interaction before going back to arguing with her brother.

“Hey, you two, you’re supposed to be here to visit with Mommy. You can argue on your own time,” Kane pointed out, speaking to the two older kids.

“Fuck her,” Hadrian said with amazing clarity. He was looking directly at his little sister.

“Fuck you,” Sheshona countered with the same clarity. It was a phrase they used to hear quite a bit when their mother was healthy and in the same room as their aunt.

“You two, you visit with your mother or just leave to argue with each other outside,” Kane told the pair.

“No!” they both howled.

“Then visit with her. You miss her, don’tcha?” Kane inquired and the kids nodded with great enthusiasm. “Well, she missed you too and she wants your company. Be nice and visit with her.”

The two nodded again. They then climbed up on the bed, which should have been too high for them, but they were very practiced monkeys. They curled up to their mother and then started talking her ear off, very excitedly. They went on until it was clear that Isabel was staying awake only through the sheer joy of being with her children again.

Kane could see that Isabel was running on fumes, but he was not sure if he wanted to pull the children away. She looked so happy with them, after all. He turned to Victoria, who was still standing in the hall. He hoped that she had an answer.

“Let ‘em stay tell she passes out. She’ll sleep through the night that way, right?” Victoria said.

Kane nodded and he did just that. He collected the kids from the bed when Isabel was sleeping; they did not even seem to notice. He did let them each give her a kiss goodnight and then he carried them out of the room.

Visiting with Isabel was easily the highlight of the kids’ day. They spoke about it for the rest of the night. Kane decided to make it part of the routine, especially since Isabel seemed to enjoy it. She seemed happy when the kids began to come in every day.

The kids talked to Isabel constantly, even when they had toys to play with in the room. She slowly acknowledged them with touches and smiles. She could not speak much at first, saying their names, but gradually she could at least say sentences to them. She did not speak long sentences, though.

-8-8-8-8-

“She’s taken to the children rather well,” Isabella commented. She was standing in the kitchen, cooking dinner. Kane was sitting at the table, rubbing his face in his hands.

“Yes. She’s rather good with them, even though she still won’t get out of bed and she doesn’t talk much,” he replied.

“Does she talk to you, yet?”

“No more than she did the first day that she came home,” he admitted with a sigh.

“Well, you have most of the battle won if she’s at least acknowledging your demons again. Not to mention, she’s been trying to talk to Vic, I’ve been told,” she replied.

He nodded. “That’s why I let Vic take them in there now. At least she seems to want to be around Vic.” He looked away after saying that while trying to keep his breathing even and proper.

Isabella glanced over at him before turning her attention back to cutting up the chicken cutlets that she intended to cook for dinner. She hated it, but some part inside of her pitied Kane and actually allowed her mind to say that. He was having a tough marriage and even before that, a tough courtship of a very difficult girl.

“She’ll come back to you, Kane,” Isabella said.

“How can you be so sure?” he begged to know.

“I know my daughter, better than she knows herself. Hopefully, she will mature and be the same with your demonic children. She won’t leave you.”

Kane nodded; he would have to take her word on it. Isabel did not seem to be returning to him in any sense of the word. Nine months had passed since she had returned home from the hospital and she was just as cold as ever toward him. _What the hell do I need to do to get Bella to at least not recoil at my touch?_ He did not know.

He loathed that everyday he went in that room those same frozen emerald eyes followed him like a victim eyeing her assailant. _How long will she blame me for this?_ He needed to know, but he was aware that he would never know until she finally stopped acting the way that she was.

“Well, you never know until you ask,” he muttered to himself. He unfortunately feared the answer, so he decided to get in some practice.

Later on, Kane sat with Isabel, who was sleeping. He pulled up a chair to the bed and stared down at her. Her pale skin seemed to shine at night, giving her an unearthly halo, reminding him of an angel. He chuckled at the mere thought.

“Even now, I can’t quit you. After all, what fool walks out on an angel? I am a lot of things, but a fool isn’t one of them, despite what you would like to believe,” he commented and laughed a bit aloud. “Well, I guess a lot of people would think I’m stupid going through this, but to Hell with those people. They haven’t seen you naked, after all! Sorry about that. It’s just kinda hard getting through all of this. I mean, I miss you just as much as the kids and not just because you sex me up all the time. I mean, I just miss you and I wish you didn’t blame me for the baby. I’m sorry I keep getting you pregnant. I know I should be more careful. If you just forgive me for this one thing, I’ll never do it again. I mean, I’ll wear a condom for the rest of our marriage. I’ll never touch you again if that’s what you want. I just want you to forgive me for this,” he begged, a sob escaping his throat.

Kane was crying before he even knew what happened, bawling to the point that he could not breathe after a while. He covered his face with his hands and threw his head back as if he was hiding from the shadows. He apologized to her over and over through his hands, which muffled his voice. He coughed a bit, which let him realize that he was making a lot of noise and Isabel was sleeping right there.

He quickly sat up and checked on Isabel. He noticed her body twitch, but her eyes were still closed. He decided to leave before he disturbed her rest. As soon as the door shut, she opened her eyes.

“He thinks I blame him? He’s apologizing to me? But, it’s my fault!”

 _What, now you’re going to argue with the guy because he thinks it’s his fault and not yours? Don’t you think the problem is that both you idiots are worrying about whose fault it is? Geez, kiss and make up already_!

“It’s not that easy.”

_How the fuck isn’t it that easy? You like flinching whenever he tries to touch you? You like only being able to say one word to the little idiot? You like not being able to get out of this fucking bed? You need to take a fucking step toward him at least. He’s been here and what the fuck have you been doing?_

“Why the fuck are you always arguing with me? I would’ve been able to figure this shit out if you weren’t always barking at me. What the fuck is your deal? You’re only keeping me from being able to make this up to Kane. Every time I think something, you fucking contradict me.

_Because every time you think something you’re wrong._

“How the hell is that even possible? I wanted the kids to come in and you were the one pushing that they didn’t want to see me. That’s been proven to be bullshit. Now, you want me to believe that I can just go to Kane like it’s so simple. I’ve put him through a lot and I know I have to take a step toward him, but it’s not so easy. Every time I look at him, I think about the hurt I’ve done him, not just with his son, but in general. I’ve done nothing but suck the life out of that man for years now. I don’t even understand why he’s still with me.”

_Well, isn’t that something to ponder? I still say he leaves with the kids if you keep this up. Sure, they might fight him a little bit on it, but I’m sure they won’t mind living with their daddy. Who wants to live with such a boring and crazy mother, after all?_

Isabel ignored the voice for the first time. She knew that she needed to get herself together now. Kane should not have deal with blaming himself, thinking that she blamed him, and having to take care of everything at the same time. She knew that she had to be there for him. She was not the only one that had a cross to bear and he was helping her with hers. She would love nothing more than to help him with his.

She knew that it would be hard, especially since she could not even take the thought of him touching her. She honestly feared that she would be able to feel his hatred burning her flesh if they made contact. The thought alone threatened to choke her alive. She could not imagine finding it out to be the truth.

Her eyes turned to her hands and arms, which were covered by the blanket. She smiled as she recalled Kane tucking her in that night, like he did every night. Yes, it sounded childish, but she supposed that it was all right. He was taking such good care of her and she was not giving him anything to show for it, as usual.

She silently cursed herself for not being able to give back to him in the same manner that he always gave her. The voice in her head tried to start up again, but she ignored it still. She focused on just worrying about her own thoughts for once. That was enough to keep her occupied for a while.

The next time Kane came in, she regarded him with what he thought were her usual eyes. He could not see into her head, so he did not know what she was thinking. He never knew really what was going through her mind in terms of him. He just left it alone and began feeding her breakfast.

Her appetite had picked up since the kids started visiting her. She would make more effort in chewing foods, so he could bring her things like bagels or waffles; all toasted, of course. After another month, she even fed herself, all Kane had to do was put the tray down. Still, she regarded him with eyes that he could not read, eyes that appeared the same as always.

And then one day, a year after the whole thing began, she surprised the hell out of him.

“Kane …” Isabel said, tasting the name on her tongue and actually relishing it.

“Yes?” he asked, even though he guessed what she was going to say. He had heard it so many times already.

“I’m sorry.”

Kane could have been knocked over with a feather at that point. His mouth practically hit the floor and his eyes widened as if he was staring at a giant tsunami coming to wipe out everything in its path. He did not even know how he managed to stay conscious after that.

“I’m sorry for everything,” Isabel said in a breath.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Isabel seems to be on the road to healthy living and Sheshona stakes her claim to Kane.


	17. Shift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, or Matteo; Disney owns them. I do own Kane, Isabel, Victoria, and Isabella.

16: Shift

Kane was stunned into silence. His wife, who had not spoken more than a word to him in almost a year, had just apologized to him. He really was not sure how to take it, but just the fact that she said more than “leave” to him was too much. His mouth trembled as he tried to find words that were at the very least real in some language, but nothing came out. His brain just could not comprehend that his beloved was speaking to him again. It was taking all of his strength to avoid fainting right then and there.

“I know I’ve put you through Hell, Kane, more than once. For that, I am truly sorry,” Isabel forced the words from her mouth. Not because she was too proud to apologize, which she always thought would be the case when it came to saying sorry, but because she was just not used to physically speaking anymore, least of all to him.

“It’s okay, Bella. Don’t push yourself on my account,” he replied in a low, miserable tone.

Isabel could feel her heart breaking in her chest. Even now, he was thinking of her when she was the one that did all of this to him. She was the one taking his life away from him, yet he was cautioning her about pushing herself for him. What had she done to gain this man in her life? What had she done that was so right that he would stay with her, put up with her, and go through so much for her? She did not know what it was, but she was thankful for him just the same. She pushed a smile onto her face.

“I want … I want to talk so much … but, it’s so hard,” she admitted and she meant that in more ways than one. Communication had always difficult for her, not just with him, but in general. She was getting better at it with him until this incident happened.

“Take your time, Bella. I promise you, I’m not going anywhere,” he replied in a soft tone.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll just turn out the lights and everything so you can go to bed.”

“Stay,” she sort of breathed. Kane was sure that he heard wrong or was about to suffer cardiac arrest.

“You want me to stay?” he asked just to be certain.

“For a little while,” she corrected herself.

It seemed a bit fast to both of them for to go from flinching at his touch to being able to share the bed with him. He did take a seat in his chair next to the bed. He grinned at her nervously as he sat down because she was watching him so carefully, like she always did. Her gaze was so intense that he feared he might have imagined that she was speaking to him.

They were quiet for a while. Kane was not sure where to look, so he switched from the ceiling, to the wall, to his hands, to his feet, and to his Bella when he felt brave enough. Her eyes never left his form, though. He decided to test the waters after letting lose a laugh to cover an anxious cough.

“Um … Bella, do you think you could stop looking at me like that?” he requested, gaze now off to the side. He could not face her while asking that question because it sounded quite childish to him.

She blinked hard. “Excuse me?” she asked in confusion.

“You’re sorta looking at me the same way you have for a long time and it’s really bothering me. I don’t know what’s on your mind and part of me thinks that you might actually be cursing my name.”

“Never that, dearest … Well, unless I’m in labor and the drugs aren’t strong enough,” she remarked. She was not sure where those words came from, but she was happy for them because they put a bashful smile on his face.

“I guess you’re getting back to normal,” he commented while looking away for a second, as if he was embarrassed. Now, they both knew that nothing embarrassed him.

They were quiet again for some long moments. The silence seemed to be too much for Isabel and she fell asleep, but that was fine. The next night, they sat together and spoke a little bit. Isabel seemed more confident then, but still the conversation was brief. Things picked up with each time that they saw each other, though.

Eventually, the family started to notice that Isabel was not treating Kane like a leper. No one made a big deal out of it; Isabella and Victoria just were not the type and the kids followed the adult examples. Victoria did express some happiness for Kane, though.

“It’s good that she’s finally remembering your heart,” the blonde said to her brother-in-law. They were sitting in the living room while the kids were upstairs with Isabel.

“It is nice. I’m just glad she’s feeling better,” Kane replied while leaning back against the couch. He was sitting on the floor while Victoria was on the love seat not too far away.

“You’re always putting her ahead of yourself. You’re actually the woman of the relationship,” she remarked with a laugh.

He just grinned, a lazy expression to go with droopy eyes. He did not care, of course, if he was seen as the “woman” of the relationship; he would do anything for his Bella. He never wondered if she would do the same for him; he just subconsciously assumed that she would.

“Kane, you got any brothers or anything? Preferably taller than you?” Victoria inquired out of the blue.

“No, and I am taller than you,” he pointed out. 

“By two inches! You’re a runt of a man. I’m a decent height for a woman. Besides, my height is a good distraction when I’m in a fight. What does your height do for you except make impossible for you to kiss Izzie on the mouth if you’re in the missionary position?” the blonde quipped with an amused smile.

Kane made a mocking face, but nothing more than that. He glanced up at the ceiling, signaling that he was thinking about his wife. He hoped that they were making progress. She still had not gotten out of bed and she still would not let him touch her, so he was not too sure if she was making her way back toward him or not. He kept that fear locked away in his mind, though.

Suddenly, he was ambushed. Sheshona came out of nowhere and tackled him from the side. He laughed at the hit while she straightened herself out, making sure to slap him in the face a few times, just for good measure. She then looked at him with a stern expression on her face; he wanted to laugh so badly, but held it in.

“Make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” Sheshona seemed to command.

“Yes, sir, Shona sir!” Kane agreed with some of his mirth sneaking through thanks to a smile.

He climbed to his feet. Sheshona continued hanging onto him, so he ended up carrying her to the kitchen. She did not let go of him even when he started fixing the sandwich, but he did not say anything to her. She refused to sit at the table with the food, wanting to sit in the living room, next to him. She leaned against her father’s shoulder while eating her snack.

“You’re just pushed around by every Han woman in your life, huh?” Victoria remarked, laughing at Kane being bullied by a now four-year-old.

“Well, every Go woman, too, so I guess Shona has me in more than one way,” Kane quipped with a grin.

“She’s practically stuck to you lately.”

“I don’t mind. She’s my little girl, after all.”

Victoria nodded and did not think too much of it. She just thought it was cute the way Sheshona ordered Kane about. She was not sure if the child was serious about it or not. Sometimes, Sheshona smiled while she did it and other times she appeared to be totally rigid about it. Either way, it was utterly adorable, in a weird mini-Isabel kind of way, she supposed.

Kane did not think anything of it, more because he was used to it than anything else. Sheshona was his little buddy, but then again, he saw Hadrian and Matteo in the same light; they ordered him around a bit, too, but not nearly as much as Sheshona did. As long as the kids were happy, he was fine with it.

-8-8-8-8-

“Hey, Bella,” Kane said as he entered the room with dinner for her. He had gotten takeout since neither Isabella nor Victoria had time to cook for him and the kids that night. He was fine with that; they did not have anything against pizza, after all.

“Hey,” Isabel replied in a neutral voice.

“We’ve got pizza for dinner,” Kane announced as he put down the tray in front of her. There were two big slices of the aforementioned food and a glass of fruit punch.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t bring me the food and I could try forcing my way out of the bed,” she commented while sitting up some to give the meal proper attention.

“Don’t strain yourself, Bella,” he replied. “We want you to take your time to make sure you’re fine. So, act when you’re ready.”

“I am ready. Don’t you think?” she asked curiously. She thought that she was better now, but then again, she did not think that there was much wrong with her in the first place.

“Well, you’re certainly better than before. I mean, now you’re talking normally and regularly. You’re not just sitting with the kids, but interacting with them. You’ve gotten back into form with cursing Vic out, so yes, you’re better. But, all of this took progress. You don’t have to push yourself.”

“You’re scared it’ll happen again, aren’t you?”

“I’m a little scared, yes, that you’ll relapse.”

“Was I so bad? Am I so bad?” she more wondered aloud. She ran things through her mind over and over again and she did not think that she was so hard up that she needed all this worry. But, she supposed that it was time for an outside opinion; _it just might help_.

“Well, those are relative terms,” he said tactfully.

“Kane, you can tell me or I can simply ask Mommy or Vic. They’ll let me know as plainly as possible how I was,” she reminded him.

Kane nodded. “Right,” he muttered under his breath while rubbing his neck anxiously.

“Spill,” she commanded, sounding so close to normal that it was frightening.

“I’ll tell you later. Maybe when you can get out of bed and stay up a few more hours in a row.”

“Don’t treat me like a child, Kane,” she growled.

“I’m not. I want to save you the stress for now. Just focus on getting better. The rest you can find out later. It’s just that simple.”

Isabel glared down at her pizza. A lump rose in her throat and she knew it was from rage. _That has to be a sure sign that I’m better, right?_ She could get angry with Kane, so she had to be better. _So, whose voice is that coming out of my mouth and what questions is it asking?_

“Why do you care so much?” she inquired in a whispered sob. “Is it because of the kids?”

“Why do you always think I don’t value you, Bella? I care about you because of you, not because you had our beautiful children, or because you give me sex, or even because you’re the most gorgeous creature I have ever met, but because of who you are. I married you because of that and I stay with you because of that. Hell, I chased you because of that. Get it? I care about you because of you,” he explained as best he could. Underneath it all, there was just something about Isabel that drove him wild, flooded his senses, overrode his brain, and compelled him to be with her forever and always no matter what.

Isabel seemed to digest that information. She turned her eyes away from him. She did not understand him and she did not understand this power that he still had over her. The fact that he cared touched her so deeply even now that tears built up in her eyes and flowed down her cheek as if a dam burst inside of her. _How can he get so much emotion out of me with a few words? With a look? With a touch? How?_

“Bella,” he whispered by accident. He was not supposed to acknowledge that she was crying or she would get infuriated, he thought.

Isabel looked up at him and whimpered like a frightened puppy. Kane was not sure what to do, which might have explained why he actually said a quick prayer in his head. It was not a proper prayer by far, but he hoped that whatever God there was overlooked that fact since he had always been religiously confused.

Kane was about halfway through his prayer when something totally expected happened, aside from the crying and praying anyway. Isabel flung herself at Kane. Luckily, he caught her as she slammed against his chest. The sudden motion surprised him, but his arms had acted automatically when she hit him. He then held her as she bawled into his black, cotton t-shirt.

“It’s okay, Bella,” he said instinctively while gently rubbing her back.

Isabel did not say anything. She just continued weeping into his chest. He held onto her, still caressing her back and whispering soothing words into her ears. After a few minutes, she finally regained control enough to stop crying and lock eyes with him.

“Kane, it’s hard for me to say this, but you know, you’ve always scared me,” she confessed in a low voice.

“I scare you?” he echoed in disbelief. _Shit, she should try being me for a day and living with her_ , he thought.

“I know, it sounds silly, but yes, you do. You’re the first and only thing that I have ever admitted scares me, too, but only because I know it’s so desperately true. Anything else, I might have been able to argue away, but not this, not this feeling. You’ve scared me ever since you showed up in my life when I was pregnant with Hadrian and because of that, I tried to chase you away. Sometimes, I think I’m still trying to do that and I’m scared I’ll succeed. I don’t know what I would do if you were gone. You have this power over me and I think that’s what scares me the most. No one has ever had such a power over me, the power to hurt me so easily, but also the power to brighten my day with a simple smile. I want to give you the world, but I don’t know how and I want to keep you by my side, but I also want to be rid of you because of that power.”

Kane smiled and nodded. “I feel the same way much of the time, but I never want you to leave me, no matter what. I won’t leave you either, so you don’t have to be scared of me. Even if I do have this power, I’ll try my best only to use it for good. Besides, you have a power over me as well. Isn’t that a fair trade?” he inquired.

Isabel was quiet for a moment. She glanced away before locking eyes with him. There was a burning intensity suddenly in her still wet emerald eyes. He was not sure what to make of it.

“I love you so much, Kane,” Isabel stated as if she was going to erupt into tears again.

Kane’s knees were ready to give out at those words, but knew to stay strong. His arms were ready to turn to noodles, but were more than aware the weight that they supported. His heart was allotted a few seconds to just stop and it took those seconds. His lungs also got a moment to forget their job, so he did not know that he was holding his breath.

“Bella …” he said as he recalled that he could speak.

It was then that Kane realized the situation he was. His wife, who had been so against touching him, was now wrapped in his arms and she was not making any moves to push him away. She had just declared love for him the first time ever in their short history together. He was speechless again.

“That’s what this is. I know it,” Isabel said with conviction.

“I love you, too,” he managed to say; he was well aware that silence on the issue certainly would not be a good move on his part.

“I know you do. That’s why I’m good enough for you and there’s no hidden agenda on your part. Also, it’s why I have power over you, too.”

Kane only nodded. She had figured that out quite rightly. He remembered back when he was going to tell her those words the first time and she silenced him before he finished. She told him to show her and he guessed that he had been doing a good job of it if she knew his heart now and believed him.

“Um … Kane …” Isabel said.

“Yes?” he replied.

“I’m a little tired now. Could you please lay me back in the bed?” she requested, almost sheepishly.

“Of course, Bella.”

Kane did as she requested, making sure to put her back in the bed with care. He then noticed the tray with her food; it had been knocked over when she shot up from the bed at him. The juice stained and soaked the side that used to be his. The pizza cuddled with the comforter. He started to clean it up.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized.

Kane grinned and shook his head, not accepting that apology. Why would he want an apology for her embracing him and declaring her fondness for him? She could have wrecked the bedroom and he still would have smiled after that.

“I’ll bring you some more food in second,” he said.

“Kane … one more thing …” she muttered. 

“Yes?”

“Could you sleep in here tonight?” she requested, feeling just a little foolish at having to ask her husband to share the bed with her.

Kane smiled again. “Of course, Bella,” he replied. He hoped that it did not turn out to be the wrong decision.

-8-8-8-8-

Sheshona yawned as she wandered downstairs in the middle of the night. She rubbed her eye with the back of her hand while carefully gripping the guardrail as she marched down the shadow covered steps. She turned the corner blindly as she hit the silent living room, which she thought was weird in and of itself. Usually, she could hear her father breathing. She gulped and tried to keep her heart from pounding out of control just because of the gut-wrenching silence.

“Daddy,” Sheshona called as she went deeper into the large room, knowing by heart where to avoid obstacles. She got to the middle of the floor and blinked hard. “Daddy?” she called again, her voice laced with fear and worry since her father was not where he was supposed to be.

The child’s head whipped around frantically as she tried to locate her daddy in the disturbingly dark living room. She whimpered as she pictured one of the shadows moving. She clutched her blanket tightly as her first scan did not detect her father. The shadows now seemed to be closing in, so she turned around and cut out.

“Daddy? Daddy? Daddy!” Sheshona chanted as she hurried up the stairs, tears gained in her eyes, which were darting back and forth to make sure the shadows were not getting closer. Her mouth trembled and her heart raced like it was ready to explode in her chest.

Sheshona got to the top of the stairs and looked down the hall toward her room. The shadows looked deep and dark there. Her heart pounded in her ears as she shook her head; there was no way in Hell she was going back to her room. She turned around and looked down the other end. The shadows did not appear to be quite as thick there.

“Mommy’s room? Maybe Daddy’s in Mommy’s room!” Sheshona realized. She took off in that direction.

The girl rushed to her “mother’s room” and eased the door open. She knew that it was a bad thing to wake her mother up since she was still “a little sick,” but she needed to see if her father was in there. She peered around the room, noticing her mother in the bed, but then she saw something odd. There were two pair of feet in the bed; her mother’s were under the covers and then an extra pair, which were hanging off the end of the bed slightly.

“Daddy?” Sheshona wondered while her face scrunched up in confusion. _Since when does Daddy sleep in the same bed with Mommy?_

She moved over to the side of the bed that housed the extra feet and noticed that they did belong to her father. He was sleeping on top of the spread, curled into a slight fetal position. Sheshona’s face morphed from perplexed to rage, a strange fire in her emerald eyes; her fear was forgotten.

“Daddy,” Sheshona hissed with a scowl on her face.

Kane did not stir. For a guy that used to wake up at the sound of a baby crying from the other room, he was a surprisingly heavy sleeper. Sheshona was not deterred and called him again. Kane made a noise, which only made his daughter scowl deeper. She reached up and smacked him on the leg; that was the only point that she could reach.

“Daddy,” she practically barked as he lifted his head slightly and opened his eyes.

“Shona?” Kane asked, almost as if he was surprised to see her and then he remembered their little tradition. “You had bad dreams?”

Sheshona nodded; she did not really have bad dreams until she went into the living room to find it empty. She was only now feeling better. Her heart rate returned to normal and she felt a slight calm over come her.

“Um …” Sheshona stared at her father expectantly.

Kane sighed. “Come on up, but be quiet. You don’t wanna wake up Mommy, right?”

Sheshona shook her head; she did not want to wake up her mother. _Daddy shouldn’t be sleeping next to Mommy anyway_ , she silently fumed. She climbed up on the bed, making sure to keep a good hold on her blanket. She curled up next to her father as soon as she was in the bed while wrapping her cover over her. She decided to use part of his arm as her pillow for the night.

“Night, Daddy,” Sheshona said within a yawn. 

“Night, Shona,” Kane replied. The pair fell asleep after that.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane was the first one to wake up in the crowded bed. He found himself sandwiched between the two fierce females of the house. He was a bit surprised to feel Isabel spooning him; after all, she had not wanted to be touched by him until last night. Sheshona drooling on his arm, though, did not surprise him.

He eased himself out of the situation, not wanting to wake either of them up. He had some practice at it thanks to Sheshona using his back as a mattress. He could have probably put a ninja to shame with the way that he sneaked out of the bed and out of the room.

He went to check on the boys before anything. Hadrian was sleeping like the wild-child he seemed to be, blanket covering the left side of his body, his right leg hanging off the bed, his left arm flung over his face, his left leg bent at the knee, his mouth wide open, and his right arm propped up on his spare pillow. The only normal thing about the way he was sleeping aside from the fact that he was still in bed was that he was using a pillow for his head.

Kane left Hadrian to his insane sleep and went to see Matteo. Matteo was the exact opposite of Hadrian in his sleep. He picked a spot and never moved, so he was in the same position as he was when Kane laid him down that night. Thankfully, his chest rose and fell rhythmically to let his father know that he was still alive.

Kane went downstairs once he was certain the boys were all right and he started moving around the kitchen. He pulled out the cereals that he knew the kids would want and he took out the frozen waffles, which would be Isabel’s breakfast. He also cut up some fruit for everyone to have.

“Daddy,” he heard Sheshona groan, so he turned around to see her standing in the kitchen entrance, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Hey, cutie. What’s going on?” Kane replied.

“Can I help?” she proposed.

“Don’t you always help?” he answered with a grin. She grinned in return and nodded.

Kane pointed out little things for her to do, like always. After that was set up, he went and helped her pick out her clothing for the day. He then got the boys up and set them up for the day too. Breakfast was had and the kids spent the morning with their mother until sleep overcame her as it generally did, but she was staying up longer and longer each day. After that, they were left to their grandmother, who arrived that morning just for that purpose.

-8-8-8-8-

“Lunch, Bella,” Kane practically sang as he entered the room with a sandwich for his wife. She smiled as he entered the room. “Now, I could get used to that,” he remarked with a smile of his own.

“Get used to what?” she asked curiously.

“You smiling at me. It’s very pleasant,” he commented brightly as he put the tray down.

“You’re going to stay?” she inquired, sounding quite hopeful.

“I’ve got no problem with staying.” Kane glanced around for his chair.

“Sit on the bed, please,” she requested.

Kane nodded and did just that. He made himself comfortable next to her, but made a conscious choice not to touch her. Yes, she seemed comfortable with touching him, but he would still prefer that she initiate the contact, just in case that was the only way that she was comfortable with it.

“Thank you for staying,” she said.

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s not like it’s troubling for me. I like being near you and everything, Bella,” he replied.

She smiled and they struck up a conversation. Isabel noticed that the more she talked, the less she heard that tormenting voice in her head. She had basically worked it out of her mind lately, although it did nag her about Kane still. She supposed that talking with him, regaining her confidence and comfort with him would cure her of all of that.

Kane thought that talking would do them good. He hoped that eventually he would be able to approach the subject of their lost child, just to make sure that Isabel was healing from it. Of course, he knew that they would not get over losing their son, but they would have to bear with it and move on.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Where’s Daddy? I wanna show him!” Sheshona declared, speaking to her grandmother.

Isabella had Sheshona and Hadrian in the backyard and she was training them in martial arts. Victoria had disappeared for the afternoon with Matteo; Isabella suspected that her youngest child was tormenting some poor young man with Matteo. The smile that Victoria left with was just too demonic.

“Shona, do not leave this lesson,” Isabella ordered in her typical calm tone.

“But, I wanna show Daddy!” Sheshona shouted, somewhat whining. She typically only whined when her father was involved.

“Your daddy’s busy, you know that,” Isabella pointed out.

“He’s just up there with Mommy! I wanna show him the move!” Sheshona countered.

“I wanna too!” Hadrian chimed in.

Isabella took a moment and counted to three in her own mind. The kids acted just a little different than what she was accustomed to when they wanted to see their father, so she had to have a certain amount of patience for that … generally more patience than she was willing to allow.

“You two, if you don’t fall back into line right now, this lesson will end and I will never bother to teach you martial arts again. You will then shame yourselves as members of the Han family and as members of the Go family,” Isabella informed the pair.

Despite only being five and four, the siblings understood those words to be utterly important and they knew that they could not shame their families. They remained in place. Sheshona did make it a point to appear overwhelmingly sour over the remainder of the lesson, though.

Isabella did not bother with telling her granddaughter to fix her face. She noted a while ago that Sheshona was fixated on Kane, thinking that she had to show him everything that she could do, thinking that she had to help him with everything, and whatever else. She supposed it made sense because Kane acted wowed by everything the kids did and showed a great enthusiasm whenever they did anything.

When the lesson was done, Sheshona charged into the house, dying to show her father the great move that her grandmother taught her. She ran through the bottom floor, hoping to find him, but did not come across him. She realized where he more than likely was and frowned at the thought, but marched upstairs anyway.

“Daddy!” Sheshona hollered as she entered her mother’s room, kicking the door open in the process. The door cried out with a loud noise that caused the two occupants in the room to jump.

Kane and Isabel turned their attention from each other and to the door. They offered their daughter odd expressions, which she ignored. She turned her attention directly to Kane, walking over to his side of the bed. He craned an eyebrow.

“Daddy, you gotta come see this move Grandma taught me and Hadrian! I could do it best!” Sheshona boasted.

“I’ll see it soon, Shona. I’m trying to talk to your mother now,” Kane pointed out.

Sheshona frowned for a moment and it looked suspiciously like she cut her mother a glare. Kane’s eyebrow remained arched while he wondered what the hell that was. He then decided to chalk it up to his imagination. _Like Shona would ever glare at Bella_ , he thought with a scoff.

“C’mon! See it now!” Sheshona ordered while grabbing a hold of her father’s hand. She then tried to pull him out of the bed. He resisted, so she could not move him, of course.

“Shona, what’re you doing? You see I’m with your mother. Leave it at that,” Kane replied.

“But, I wanna show you!”

“I’ll see it soon,” he promised in a gentle tone.

“I wanna show you now!”

“You can show me later.”

“No! I won’t show you later! I’ll never show you now!”

Sheshona scowled at her father, mumbled a string of profane words and charged out of the room with a furious look in her emerald eyes. Kane looked as confused as ever while Isabel watched on with concern in her eyes. They then turned to each other.

“Maybe you should go after her,” Isabel suggested.

“Nah, and that’s how I know you still need rest. You would never suggest me go after her if you were totally all right. You wouldn’t even let her get away with sort of temper tantrum,” he pointed out.

Isabel could not argue that one. In fact, she was a bit annoyed by Sheshona’s behavior. The girl was suddenly whiny and acting like a brat, which just would not do. She supposed that she would have to correct that when she was totally able. Right now, she did feel better than she had before.

“Did Shona glare at me?” Isabel asked out of the blue. She could have sworn the child glared at her, though, but it just did not seem right.

“I thought she did,” Kane answered.

“I thought maybe my mind was trying to trick me again,” she commented.

“She was just mad because I wouldn’t pay attention to her right then and there. Don’t think anything of it.”

Isabel nodded and they went about their business. Sheshona stormed off downstairs in a huff, not sure what to do about herself. No one really paid much attention to her, which she was glad for anyway. The one person that she wanted was to busy for her. Soon, that was to be the norm, a norm that thoroughly pissed her off.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane woke up early in the morning and noticed that Sheshona was curled up against him, as was expected. He yawned quietly and collected her in his arms. Darkness still blanketed the house and their part of the world. He silently marched Sheshona to her room and laid her down in her own bed. He stuck around for a few minutes, just to see if she would start having a nightmare or wake up in general. She did not move, so he left the room.

Kane returned to bed and flopped down. Before he had a chance to fall back to sleep, Isabel inched closer to him. He thought that she was just moving in her sleep until he felt her pull the covers back and then pull them over him. She then snuggled into his shoulder.

“I’m going to make breakfast today,” she mumbled, making him consider that she was talking in her sleep.

-8-8-8-8-

Sheshona sat up in her bed scowling. _What the hell? How the hell did I get my room?_ She could not figure out why she was in her room and in her bed if she had fallen asleep against her father. She flung her covers away as if they were some kind of weapon that would damage her enemies. She marched out into the hall as if she was going to meet said enemies on the battlefield, which happened to be in the direction of her mother’s bedroom.

Sheshona only made it to the stairs and then her attention was drawn. She could hear noise downstairs. She smiled.

“Daddy,” she muttered happily and hurried down the steps, making sure to hold onto the guardrail.

The child dashed into the living room, but found it empty. She then went to the next logical place for her father to be: the kitchen. She charged in there and stopped dead in her tracks. Her body shook as if she had been shot and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Mommy, where’s Daddy?” Sheshona demanded. _What the hell is Mommy doing in the kitchen anyway?_ Her mother was supposed to stay in bed and her father was supposed to make breakfast! It had been like that forever as far as she was concerned.

Isabel turned around from her place at the stove. She smiled a bit at the girl; it was slightly sheepish expression due to the fact that she was having some trouble navigating the kitchen after so much time away. She supposed that it would all come back in time, which was why she was happy to have finally gotten started with getting things back together.

“Good morning, Shona. Your daddy’s still sleeping,” Isabel reported.

“Oh,” Sheshona said much too profoundly. She glanced away for a moment, a thoughtful expression painting her features. She seemed to get quite the idea as she turned her attention back to her mother, a severe look in her emerald eyes.

Isabel could only wonder if she was imagining the look that her daughter was giving her. She doubted it was a figment of her imagination, though. After all, it was not the first time that Sheshona glared at her.

“Mommy,” Sheshona said with surprisingly seriousness.

“Yes?” Isabel asked curiously.

“Daddy’s mine now, so don’t think you can suddenly have him back,” Sheshona declared while pointing a rather threatening, and chubby, finger at her mother. She then turned around and marched out of the kitchen as if she could crumble mountains with her will alone.

Isabel was not sure whether she should laugh or be worried by her daughter’s sudden possessiveness of Kane. She then decided to dismiss it. She was aware of how attached Sheshona had become of Kane, so now the girl just had to adjust to things changing once again. So, it was probably nothing, she figured.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kane and Isabel finally talk about the son that they lost. The Go family get back to normal.


	18. I’m super

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, and Matteo; Disney does. I do own Kane, Isabel, Isabella, and Victoria.

17: I’m super

Life continued on for the Go family. Isabel was finally moving around the house, getting back into the flow of family life. She had yet to attempt to go back to work and she really could only hope that she was not forgotten by all of the connections that she met before “the incident,” as she had come to referring things in her mind; she feared that if she referred to “the incident” by anything else that she might have another mental breakdown.

She was starting to think that she was ready to approach the subject of “the incident” with one person: Kane. She wanted to know his thoughts, but she was still a bit nervous about it. That voice in her head had not completely shut up yet and because of that, doubt clutched at her heart with mighty talons like the grip of an eagle on its prey. It was that feeling that let her know that they needed to discuss the issue, no matter how much it might hurt. With luck, they would be able to get through the whole thing and she would be able to stop calling it “the incident” and give it proper respect; they had lost their son, after all.

“Kane…” Isabel whispered into the darkness. They were lying in bed. She was pressed against his side, as usual. She enjoyed being able to wrap herself around him again. She hoped that the talk that she wanted to have did not change that.

Kane took a few seconds to respond. “Yes, Bella?” he replied in a low tone of his own. He was so close to sleeping, but now he was fully awake again.

“I wish to talk about … something.”

“Okay.”

“Something that might be unpleasant. Shall we do it now or in the morning?”

“If you really need to talk about it,” he answered while turning his head to look down at his wife. It was always a bit strange for him to look down at her because he was used to inclining his head to see her.

“I do, but I don’t want to disturb your sleep with it,” she explained.

“If it’s something that you really need to talk about, then let’s talk. What’s on your mind?” he asked curiously, concern deep in his voice.

“I’ve been wondering about your thoughts … on … you know …”

Kane needed a moment to catch on. She expected as much, not just because he was generally slow, but also because she was being especially cryptic right now. She just hoped that he did not require her to spell it out for him because, right now, with the way that she felt, she would not be able to say it.

“Are you sure you’re ready to hear about it?” he asked.

It was her turn to be quiet. _Am I ready to hear it?_ She liked to think that she was. She was back to normal for the most part, after all. She was pretty sure that the only thing keeping that voice in her head alive was the fact that they had not discussed things yet.

“I am,” she answered with conviction.

“Okay,” he said. He paused and moved his arm around her shoulders. He pressed her to him more so than she already was. With that done, he went into his thoughts. “I am, of course, saddened that we lost our son. I mean, I really didn’t understand it. How does a baby just die like that? No matter how many times the doctors explained it to me, I just don’t get it. I don’t understand how a baby that was perfectly fine through all of the ultrasounds and everything could have any fatal problems at birth. But, Azrael is gone for now.”

“For now?” she echoed, thinking that was an odd addition to his statement. She tried to ignore the way her heart tightened at the mention of their son’s name. _Azrael_. She could imagine calling him by some unoriginal nickname, like Azzie, and watching him try to roughhouse with his older siblings. She had pictured him so many times in her mind, how he would grow, how he would act, and how the many different quirks in his personality that he might have to fit in around the house.

“Well, I don’t think he’s gone forever. I think he’ll come back to us. Sure, it won’t be in that body, but he’ll be back someday, if we want him anyway.”

Isabel’s face scrunched up. “Are you telling me that you think our next son would be the one we lost?”

Kane nodded. “Yup. His soul would be in our next child, if we have one.”

“Do you honestly believe that or are you just trying to tell me that to comfort me?” she inquired suspiciously. It seemed a little too convenient to her.

“I honestly believe that. So, yes, I was hurt that we lost our son, but I think he’ll be back. It’s okay,” he replied in a gentle tone while reaching up and caressing her cheek.

“You don’t blame me for it?” she asked, voice suddenly raw and sounding somewhere between a sob and a hope that he did not blame her.

“I don’t blame you for it. This isn’t something that you could have seen coming or something that you did to him. Everything up until we got to the hospital told us that we had a healthy baby boy on the way. You didn’t make him suddenly sick or anything. I think it was just one of those things. They happen every now and then. Unfortunately, it had to happen to us and Azrael had to leave us for a little while. But, our baby boy will be back if we make it happen. After all, who wouldn’t want us for parents?” he remarked with a bright grin.

Isabel nodded. “I want you to know, Kane, I don’t blame you for it either.”

Kane went rigid momentarily and his heart stopped beating for more time than he liked. His lungs also forgot their job until he managed to ask a question. “You don’t?” he breathed out.

“No, I don’t,” she tried to assure him in a strong voice. “You would be the very last person I ever blame for losing … Azrael.” She honestly thought that it was her fault, but it was good to know that Kane did not agree. It would help her move on.

“Then why didn’t you want me to touch you? Why wouldn’t you talk to me?” he practically begged to know, his eyes glistening from tears welling up in his face.

“I thought you might hate me. I didn’t want to feel that through you, through your touch. I feared that if you touched me or spoke with me, your hatred would be confirmed. I would somehow feel all of the darkness and burning fire of your hate through your hand or something. It frightened me so much and I knew I would never be able to handle feeling your hatred, knowing you detested me. I never would have survived that. I’ve never experienced anything like it,” she explained.

He nodded now. “I could never hate you, Bella. Not over something like this. I wouldn’t blame you for this either.”

“But, my body was so weak …”

“Your body is never weak. Now, maybe it is possible that we should’ve waited a little longer, but the doctors never said that. I mean, I didn’t understand much of it, but I know it didn’t have anything to do with your body. It wasn’t your fault that Azrael left us. Yes, there were complications, but he had a fatal birth defect. It wasn’t your body that failed him. These things just happen, sometimes, Bella. That’s the truth,” he stated.

“Are you sure?”

“I am positive. So, you let this nonsense out of your head that it was your fault. We’ll see our baby again if we choose to. It’s just that simple.”

“Not anytime soon, though,” she mumbled, shifting her head on his shoulder. 

“I know. It’s fine. Get healthy and get everything back to just the way you like it and then maybe we’ll talk about it. Okay?”

She nodded into his shoulder. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. He also rubbed her shoulder, trying to comfort her and set her soul at ease.

“Is that good enough? Does that set you at some ease?” he asked quietly.

“It does. Thank you, sweetheart,” she replied and placed a chaste kiss to his shoulder.

He smiled warmly, which she actually sensed. The smile put her at ease and she was able to easily fall asleep. He soon followed, thinking that, _yes, we’ll see out son again someda_ y. Until then, they both knew that they would have to talk about Azrael more, not just for their peace of mind, but so he was not forgotten. Azrael was a part of their lives just as much as their other children, even though he was not with them like their other children.

-*-(New day)-*-

Kane entered the house whistling. He had bags in his hands; he had been sent on the errand of doing the grocery shopping. He had been given a specific list because Isabel knew that sending Kane anywhere with a vague goal, like “get some food,” was just a disaster waiting to happen. She was still waiting to see the ways that he messed up going to the store with a list.

The kids charged out from all directions at the sound of the door opening. He dodged them, not waiting to damage any of the goods; there were eggs in the bag and a few jars that would not survive if he dropped anything. The kids would not be deterred and kept on after him.

“C’mon, guys!” Kane pled with the kids with a look on his face as if he were about to burst into tears.

“Hold still!” Hadrian ordered while leaping at his father, thinking he had the older male now. Kane suddenly slipped away and Hadrian grabbed air, causing a frown to form on his face.

“I gotcha!” Sheshona declared as she went after her father’s hand. Kane had to twirl away, like a drunken ballerina, to avoid her.

Kane scanned the area to find the third child. He did not see Matteo anywhere. He wondered where that little sneak had hidden himself. He continued on through the foyer of the house and then suddenly noticed Matteo about to attach himself to his leg. Kane had to jump over the toddler to avoid capture. He then ran to the kitchen to put everything down before something horrible happened.

On his way to the kitchen, he passed Isabel, who was in the dining room and on the phone. He flashed her one of his typical grins, which got a wave out of her, but her attention remained on the phone. He proceeded to start to put the groceries away as the kids regrouped and attacked again.

“Can we have a snack?” all three requested at the same time with the same, pathetic, begging expression on their faces.

“I’m going to give you each a brownie and then you will get the hell away from me without any funny business, got it?” Kane informed them. He was trying to sound like a bad guy, but really he knew it would more tickle the kids than intimidate them. To his offspring, he was about as intimidating as a box of puppies.

“Sure,” Hadrian agreed while rolling his eyes. Sheshona and Matteo just chuckled.

Kane went into the bags and found the brownies that he brought, which were not on the list to be sure. He opened the box and handed one to each child. He then looked down at them expectantly. They all just flashed him a very familiar grin.

“You’re not going away, are you?” the father asked.

“Hell, no!” they all answered.

“I figured as much,” Kane sighed.

The kids attached themselves to their father while he continued on about his task of putting things away. Sheshona held Kane’s hand while Matteo and Hadrian held onto his pants’ legs. They had him going about the chore even slower than usual, which he thought was amazing because it took him almost a half-hour to put things away when they were not bugging them. He was not even halfway done by the time Isabel stepped into the kitchen, which was almost an hour after he started taking things out of the bags.

“I would say this is a cute group effort, if only it was an effort,” Isabel remarked with a small smile playing on her lips.

“We’re helping!” Hadrian insisted with a wide grin.

“Helping annoy the fuck out of me,” Kane joked, which earned him a punch in the thigh from his eldest. “Ow! You’ve got a lot of power in that tiny fist!” the father complained, glancing down at Hadrian.

“Of course I do. I’m the best fighter here,” Hadrian proclaimed while flexing his muscles.

“Nah-uh!” Sheshona objected immediately. Like hell her big brother was the best fighter there!

“I’d kick your ass!” the five-year-old boy insisted.

“I’d kick your ass!” his sister countered.

“Take it outside,” Isabel reminded them before they even got a chance to dash at each other.

The kids wasted no time obeying that command. They both figured that they would show the other who was the best fighter in the house. Their parents just watched them go, eyes almost bored as they watched.

“Now, all of these things don’t look like items on that list I gave you,” Isabel commented while staring around at the groceries.

“Had to buy extra stuff, like brownies!” Kane declared proudly with a grin.

“Yes, because that’s all you all need: more sugar,” Isabel deadpanned. At least Kane would not be bouncing off the walls like the kids would be, but still, his diet was horrible when he was left to his own devices.

Kane grinned and nodded; Matteo joined in because he heard the all-important phrase of “more sugar.” Much to Matteo’s disappointment, that was not an offer and more sugar was not provided. He trudged off with a frown on his face, as well as brownie bits, going to see what his insane siblings were doing.

Isabel moved to help Kane with the groceries. As she was taking things out of the bags, she came across an odd brown paper bag. It was somewhat flat, but there were things inside of it. She cracked open the bag and could barely believe her eyes.

“Kane, you brought the kids comic books?” Isabel inquired disbelief.

Kane chuckled a bit, sounding quite embarrassed. “Those are for me, actually.”

“You read comics?” she asked incredulously.

“I used to collect them before my parents died. I was thinking of getting back into the habit since the supermarket sells them now.”

Isabel laughed a bit, too; _my husband is such a little nerd_. _An adorable nerd, but a nerd nonetheless_. She really did not expect that of him, but he was into science fiction and comic books. If they were in high school, she would be making fun of him rather than being in a relationship with him. Yes, she believed in “to each his own,” but that did not mean she could not get a good laugh out of it.

“You are too cute,” Isabel said out of the blue as she pulled Kane in for a hug.

Kane did not object or even wonder why he was being embraced. He just grinned while pressing into her taller form. He then proceeded to make the moment a bit more normal by grabbing her ass. She yelped and slightly pulled away from him.

“You little perv,” Isabel whispered, smiling a bit.

“You know you like it, you love it, you want more of it,” Kane remarked, grinning up a storm. He then ran his hands up and down her rump; he was overjoyed to be able to do such a thing again.

“You’re being very bad,” Isabel scolded him and then she pulled away him. While she was appreciative of the attention, she was not ready for what he seemed to be starting.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” he commented with a pout.

Isabel offered him a smile for his problems, but nothing more. They finished putting away the groceries and then split up. Isabel went to check to see if all three of the kids were still alive or if someone had won in the eternal struggle of Hadrian versus Sheshona. Surprisingly enough, they were all playing on the swing set; Sheshona was pushing Matteo while Hadrian was swinging from the top bar.

“Such little monkeys,” Isabel thought to herself with a slight smile. “You guys ready for lunch?” she called.

“Food!” Hadrian cheered while dropping from the set.

The younger paid followed behind their big brother as he charged into the house. Sheshona did have to grab Matteo out of the swing before hand. They ran to the dining room table where Isabel already had sandwiches laid out.

“Where’s Daddy?” Sheshona asked curiously. She wanted to eat lunch with him.

“He’s in the living room, doing something right now. You guys finish your lunch and you can go bother him all you want,” Isabel replied.

The children cheered at that; Sheshona grinned when her brothers quieted down. They hurried through lunch and then went to go get on their father’s nerves in the boys’ case; Sheshona just wanted to be near him for the moment. They were a bit surprised when they found him in the living room, on the floor. He was flipping through his comics.

“What’re those?” Hadrian asked in an excited voice as he and his siblings dropped down next to their father.

“Pictures!” Sheshona cheered as she looked inside the book that Kane had open.

“These are called comic books and if you rip any of them, Daddy will have to kill you,” Kane remarked with a smile while rubbing the top of his daughter’s head.

“Nah-uh. If you did that, we’d tell Mommy on you!” Hadrian pointed out with a smug look on his face.

Kane laughed as that was a very good comeback. The children were surprisingly gentle with his comics, though. They were interested too, bugging to read each and everyone to him. He had no problem with that, even though he was the one that did all of the reading.

“Great, I live in a family full of geeks,” Isabel remarked when she came into the living room. She supposed things could have been worse, but she could not think of how.

-8-8-8-8-

“Daddy, are we gonna go out and buy comics today?” Hadrian inquired eagerly, waking Kane out of a good sleep.

“Huh?” Kane countered in a bewildered tone with one eye halfway open for only a millisecond. His mind was wondering what the hell was going on. _Maybe the house’s on fire or we had an earthquake_ , he considered. He hoped that was why he was being taken from his sleep.

“Comics! I wanna get comics!” Hadrian declared.

“Little prince, if I open my eyes and that clock doesn’t say twelve noon or the house isn’t burning down at this very moment, I’m throwing you in the hedge,” Kane remarked, eyes still closed quite tightly.

Hadrian turned to consider the time on the clock. He could count fairly well thanks to his parents and the fact that he started kindergarten recently. He thought on it and then turned back to his father.

“It’s nine!” Hadrian declared proudly, even though he knew that nine was way before twelve. He just did not care. “Let’s go buy comics!”

“Why are you so hyped up about comics? Shouldn’t you be watching Saturday morning cartoons or something?” Kane pointed out.

“I was, but I don’t like the ones without superheroes, so let’s go get comics while that one’s on,” he explained.

“You’re just going to keep screaming at me until I get up and we leave, right?”

“Yup!”

“I thought as much. Is Shona teaching you these things?” Kane wondered aloud.

Hadrian did not reply and waited patiently for his father to get dressed. Kane staggered downstairs with Hadrian behind him; Sheshona and Matteo were sitting in the living room, in their pajamas, with bowls of cereal in front of them. They were watching television. Isabel was in the dining room, on the phone, which was becoming more and more usual.

“How’s the search for work going?” Kane asked curiously.

“Harder than I imagined. It’s a little upsetting,” Isabel admitted with a forced laughing, wanting to sound less annoyed than she truly was.

“Keep at it. I’m going to take the little prince to buy comics.”

Isabel nodded and was about to let them go about their business, but something struck her. “Kane, are we … all right? I mean, financially?” she inquired. She did not know exactly how much money Kane had at his disposal and she had not been working for over a year.

Kane grinned. “We’ll talk about that later. Lemme get this kid some comics before he strangles me in my sleep.”

Isabel nodded again and her husband was off with their son after getting an apple for breakfast. They ended up having to take Sheshona, who threw a bit of a tantrum from not being invited. She gave her father and big brother a “how dare you go some place without me” look that sort of made their blood run cold for a few moments. She got dressed and went off with them. Matteo went to find Isabel and curled up with her while she was on the phone; he fell asleep against her chest.

-8-8-8-8-

“Did you buy the whole comic book store?” Isabel asked curiously as she watched Kane, Hadrian, and Sheshona enter the house with huge plastic bags in their hands. Hell, Kane was even carrying a box.

Kane glanced away sheepishly. “Uh … not the whole store per se,” he replied.

“Why so much then?” Isabel begged the question.

“What can I say? The prince saw Superman and freaked. Shona, believe it or not, is a fan of the Flash,” Kane answered with a shrug.

“And you just brought them whatever they wanted?”

“Yeah. It’s fine, Bella. I’ll show you later,” he assured her.

Isabel nodded and waited for that “later” to show up. After they put the kids to bed that night, Kane set out his papers to share with his wife. She studied everything while he made himself busy running his hands up and down her leg. She glared at him every now and then when his hands ended up on the inside of her thigh.

“Kane … I know you said you had a lot of money, but I never quite imagined anything like this,” she commented, eyes still on the papers. She just stared at everything in disbelief.

“Well, my dad’s company is still doing really well. My mom had a bunch of investments, which were sound. Their life insurance polices were quite large, too. I get pretty good advice from an accountant. Plus, I had a pretty big trust-fund to begin with,” he explained.

“And I thought I was making good money when I was getting work. You make my job look like lunch money.”

Kane chuckled. “Well, it’s not like I earned it or anything. I admire how you go out and earn your money. I’m hoping that one day I can do that too.”

Isabel nodded. If he was serious, she would work hard to allow him time to learn a skill or start a business or whatever the hell he wanted to do. She reached down and took one of his hands in hers. She noted that even though he was so small, he had some rather large hands.

“These hands carry a lot, Kane. You’re a good man,” Isabel said out of the blue.

Thankfully, Kane did not get a chance to respond as Isabel leaned over to kiss him. He made a noise as if he tasted something delicious when her lips came into contact with hers. By the end of the kiss, she was sitting his lap. His free hand was trying to snake into her shirt, but she pulled it away as she pulled away from his mouth.

“I’m sorry, Kane,” she whispered.

He only nodded, showing he understood. She was not ready for something more than making out. He was just going to have to wait. He had to repeat that in his head to make sure he did not do anything too terrible.

Isabel sighed, wishing that she could take more than she could. She felt so guilty in regards to him, almost as if she was sucking his life away. She leaned her forehead against his and ran her fingers through his wild, auburn hair.

“I want to give you the world,” she said to him, speaking in a low tone right in his ear. Her warm breath sent a shiver through him.

“You already have, Bella. Don’t extend yourself too much for me. I’m fine.”

“Kane, you’re like any other person on the planet with hopes and dreams. I don’t want to hold you back from those.”

He chuckled. “You’re not. Besides, all I ever really wanted is right here. I have a loving family thanks to you. Anything else can come with time. It’s not like I’m going through a midlife crisis,” he pointed out.

She supposed he was right. Still, she was going to focus on what she felt like was her new goal in life: making sure Kane’s dreams came true. She wanted to start doing things that she knew Kane enjoyed.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Kane,” Isabel said, speaking to him from her space on their bed. He was standing at the foot of the bed, seeming to contemplate if it was too hot in the house to wear a shirt to bed or not.

“Huh?” he inquired.

“You’ve been staring at the shirt for ten minutes now. If you haven’t felt a chill, I think it’s safe to say you’ll be fine without the shirt when you’re under the covers,” she remarked.

“You won’t mind?” he asked.

“No, I won’t mind,” she answered, forcing out a laugh. She wanted to not mind anyway. She just wanted to be back to normal. “Hey, Kane,” she said, signaling a change in topic from her tone.

“Yes?”

“How would you like to leave here for a while?”

“And go where?” he asked curiously.

“China.”

“China?” he echoed as if he did not know where or what that was.

“Yes, China. A friend of mine is going to do a movie shoot in China. He offered me the chance to do the fight choreography. It’ll be for the summer, so Hadrian wouldn’t miss a day of kindergarten and I know the kids would love it.”

Kane nodded. “It does sound really fun. I’m glad someone finally came through for you, too.”

“Yeah. I’m hoping that with this movie, I can find Manny and curse him out later for not taking my calls.”

“Manny’s not taking your calls?” he asked in disbelief. “I’ll be sure to punch him in the stomach for you the next time we see him.”

She laughed a bit and shook her head. “It’s all right. He’s actually not taking my calls because he doesn’t want me to find out he doesn’t make action movies anymore.”

Kane’s face fell in shock. “The hell does he make then?”

“I’m not gonna tell you,” she teased.

“Something tells me I need to give Manny a call,” he commented with a smirk on his face.

“You better not,” she reprimanded him as he crawled into bed. She forced herself to lean on him. She actually sighed when she made contact with his warm chest. She missed the feeling his flesh against her own, she realized, just not enough to do more than cuddle against him.

He laughed and put his arm around her. “You know, I’ve actually never been to China,” he realized.

“No? And you have the nerve to call yourself a wanderer?” she teased.

“I suppose you have?”

“Yes. Once. I was supposed to throw Vic off of the Great Wall. Damn, I should have gotten around to that,” she commented with a slight laugh.

He laughed a bit, too. He was actually rather excited to go to China. He hoped that they would do more traveling as a family. The kids were quite excited to go to China, too, enough to get on everyone’s nerves on the airplane. Kane and Isabel laughed for most of the flight, rather amused with all of the death threats being passed around to their kids. The eager trio did not even seem to notice. Kane was able to quiet them down with some of his increasingly ever-present comics.

-8-8-8-8-

Hadrian, Sheshona, and Matteo looked around the movie set with awe in their eyes. Their heads remained inclined for almost ten minutes. Their mouths were practically dragging on the ground; they all had forgotten that their mother used to work on things like this all the time. They did not pay any attention to comments directed at them; they barely noticed when their own parents were talking to them earlier. Crewmembers had comments when the little trio walked by, though.

“They’re so adorable.”

“They look just like Isabel.”

“They’re too cute.”

Of course, no one was saying that on the flight over there. In fact, passengers had been trying to put curses on the kids by the time the plan landed. The crew might have started that too since the children did not seem to know to get out of the way when everyone was ready to get to work.

Kane had to move the kids when filming started, but that was when the trio really was impressed. They got to see the two stars of the movies on the wires, doing martial arts moves that their mother designed while being suspended in the air. Kane noticed the children were not breathing as they watched and he wondered if they might die from the shock.

“They can fly!” Hadrian screamed in shock, which forced a cut.

“Oh my god! They’re like Superman!” Sheshona added in.

“I wanna fly!” Hadrian said.

“Me too!”

“Kane?” the director said.

“I’ll get ‘em out of here,” Kane replied and he had to drag the kids away from the scene. Isabel actually had to help.

The kids had seen enough, though. They were now determined to fly, “like the men in Mommy’s movie.” Kane had to spend the rest of the trip making sure they did not kill themselves from their attempts; after all, they had no problem with getting to and jumping off some very high places.

“We’re superheroes, like in the movie!” Hadrian declared, in the hotel room with a towel tied around his neck. Sheshona leaped out after him with a towel of her own. Matteo seemed to be having trouble getting his “cape” together; sometimes, being two sucked.

“Oh, really?” Kane asked skeptically from his space on the bed.

“Yes, I am Hego!” Hadrian said.

“Funny, I thought that was the name of the character in your mom’s movie. Shouldn’t you be Superman?” Kane inquired.

“No! Superman doesn’t do martial arts,” Hadrian pointed out, as if his father was silly to even suggest such a thing.

“And I’m Shego, his sidekick!” Sheshona proclaimed.

“I didn’t know he had a sidekick,” the father remarked. He thought it was rather adorable that they had taken to their mother’s work so well, even to the point that Hadrian had adopted the main character’s name and, apparently, Sheshona had adopted her own version of the name, too.

“He does now!” she stated.

“And his sidekick has the same name?” Kane teased.

“It’s not the same name! It’s like the girl version,” she pointed out as if her father was being silly to suggest such a thing.

Kane did not argue with them and they ran around the room, being superheroes. They went outside, being superheroes. Isabel even took them back to the movie set, being superheroes.

“Why do your kids have towels on?” a cameraman inquired, speaking to Isabel who was standing next to him.

“Too many comic books and they really like the movie so far,” she explained as best she could.

“I guess.”

Isabel only smiled while watching the kids have a good time. She was glad they were enjoying themselves. She was also happy that Kane was enjoying himself; he had gone off to do some sightseeing while she watched their maniacs for the day. He was smiling broadly when he returned.

“Thanks for bringing me along,” Kane said to Isabel while hugging her from behind.

“You don’t have to thank me. Just get used to doing some traveling again, dearest. I’m going to take you everywhere I go,” Isabel promised.

Kane only smiled; he seemed to like the sound of that. “We’re going to take the three superheroes, too, right?”

“Whenever possible. They do have school to worry about, after all,” she reminded her husband. He nodded, recalling that. To him, the trip was better than any other he had because they were all together. So, he would like that to happen as much as possible. She agreed.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the family spends some quality time together where Hadrian throws a temper tantrum. Isabel and Kane also try to recapture their physical relationship.


	19. Drawing conclusions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, or Matteo; they are owned by Disney. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Jason.
> 
> Warning: story will be earning that M rating again.

18: Drawing conclusions

“Firefly, you are not wearing that cape on your first day of school,” Isabel ordered when she saw the little girl wander into the living room with a green towel tied around her neck.

“Daddy said I could,” Sheshona argued with a tight expression on her face.

“Your father said no such thing,” Isabel replied, even though she would not put it passed him to agree to such a thing.

“Well, he was going to say I could!” the child countered with a huff, folding her arms across her chest. _Damn bossy woman_ , she silently cursed.

“Take the cape off,” Isabel stated calmly. 

“Hadrian’s wearing his!” Sheshona argued, pointing behind her, even though her brother was not standing behind her.

“When I wear this cape, my name is Hego!” Hadrian told his sister as he leaped off of the stairs, towel whipping loudly behind him.

“Both of you, take the damn capes off,” Isabel commanded with a deadpan expression on her face. She already knew that the people at the kids’ school thought she and Kane were strange. The last thing she needed was for the kids to go out in those “capes” to have people wonder what kind of parenting they were doing. One day soon, she was almost sure there would be social workers knocking on the door because of Hadrian’s and Sheshona’s actions.

“C’mon!” the duo whined.

“Take the capes off or when you come in, or no martial arts lessons,” Isabel informed them.

Capes dropped faster than a thermometer in the arctic. Isabel sighed in relief, even though she did not expect anything less of them. They ran over to the table to eat breakfast once the capes were off. Sheshona was a bit more eager than Hadrian.

“Shona, you look happy this morning,” Kane commented as he entered the dining room with Matteo. He helped the youngest into a chair and to his bowl of oatmeal.

“I get to go to school with Hadrian!” the girl grinned.

“That you do,” Kane agreed with a smile of his own. Hey, the expression was contagious.

He remembered last year when Hadrian started kindergarten. Sheshona could not understand why she could not go with her big brother and certainly did not like being without him for the day. Even having extra martial arts lessons did not sate her disheartened soul. For weeks, she threw tantrums, hoping that she would be able to go with him, but to no avail. Now, things were looking up because she could go to school with him, although her father suspected she did not completely understand that she would not actually be _with_ Hadrian.

“Who’s walking us?” Hadrian asked curiously, halfway done with his oatmeal.

“I’m going to walk you to school,” Isabel replied.

“Why? Daddy used to do it,” Sheshona pointed out. She wanted to walk to school with her two favorite guys on the planet: her father and Hadrian. She was sure that would be the best walk ever.

“I know, but now we’re going to take turns. I was sick when Daddy started, remember?” Isabel countered. She was looking forward to the walk and could not wait to make it a habit.

Sheshona nodded a bit; her mother had her there. She would have liked for her father to walk them to school on the first day. But, she actually did not mind because she was going to be going with her big brother to school. She was going to get the chance to spend the day with Hadrian! The grin was back in place and it looked like she might split her face open from smiling so wide.

Once Hadrian and Sheshona were ready to go, Isabel walked them to the door and they were off for school. Kane got Matteo ready and was able to take him to Isabella’s house for the day. She welcomed the toddler with open arms. Matteo grinned widely, almost jumping into Isabella’s arms when he saw her.

“Thanks for taking him for a while,” Kane said.

Isabella only waved him off. “Whatever,” she replied. She did not need thanks for taking one of her grandchildren.

Kane did not stick around, leaving Matteo with Isabella for the day. He then returned home, finding Isabel there already. She was on the sofa, thumbing through a script from what he could tell. He smiled a bit while silently approaching her.

“I hope you don’t think you’re being sneaky,” Isabel remarked, a smile on her face now.

“Dammit. I was trying,” Kane admitted, pretending to have an attitude from being busted.

“Well, you need to work on it. Was Matteo happy to go with Mommy?”

“Of course. They like seeing their grandma,” he replied as he sat down next to her on the sofa.

Isabel scoffed; she could not figure out why the hell they would be happy to see that demon woman. Well, she supposed that it was unfair to think of her mother in such a horrible light considering her mother was doing them a favor. Isabella had taken Matteo to give the couple some time alone.

“So, what’re we reading?” Kane asked while leaning over onto Isabel to get a good look at the packet in her hands.

“A movie that someone wants me to work on,” Isabel answered.

“Are you going to take it?” he inquired curiously and he rested his head on her shoulder.

“I’m thinking about it. Reading through the story, I don’t know if my style fits, though. I could adjust, I suppose. I don’t want to turn down a job, after all.”

Kane made a noise and nodded. She read through a couple more pages before turning her attention to him. She eyed him intently and he wished that he could read her mind. She doubted that he really wanted to know what she was thinking.

She knew why her mother gave her and Kane the time alone. She needed to get comfortable with him again, as a wife should be comfortable with her husband. She had been trying on her own, but it would seem that she was not working fast enough if her mother was willing to help.

She swallowed hard, trying to get her courage up. She then put her arms around him. It was not that bad. She cuddled with him every night, so embracing him was nothing. He leaned against her, enjoying the contact. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

“You can take your time,” he informed her, sort of whispering.

“I know. You don’t have to keep worrying about me,” she huffed slightly. _Does he think that I like not being able to touch him completely? Does he think I don’t want to be with him?_ She wanted to get over it already and go back to normal.

“If I don’t, who will?” he asked.

She snorted, sounding slightly angry over his smartass response. She went in for a kiss, more than likely to shut him up, which was rather normal for them. He was the one that pulled away. It was that or be suffocated, considering the fact that she remained right where she was, even after a full minute of kissing.

“Are you running away?” she teased him, a small, demonic smirk on her face.

“You’re evil,” he replied, feeling that was a legitimate response.

“I’m trying,” she remarked, still smirking. She was trying to get back to normal. She was trying to be one with her husband.

“Trying, huh? Let’s see long your devil horns are then,” he quipped.

She continued on smirking and decided to take him up on his offer. She could not go as far as she liked, but there was time for that. Day by day she could and would get better, more daring, especially since her mother had agreed to take Matteo everyday. So, they had a lot of time to themselves, which they used wisely.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel rolled over onto Kane in the bed. She woke up him with light kisses. He smiled in delight before he even opened his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her with thoughts and hopes that today might be the day. His hands made their way into her loose sleeveless t-shirt while turning his head to deepen the kiss that they were sharing. She rolled her hips against him, causing him to hiss into her mouth. He groaned as his hands continued seeking, wanting, touching that which had been kept from him for so long. And then the door burst open.

“Mommy!”

“Daddy!”

Kane and Isabel pulled away from each other as if a shot had been fired in their bedroom. Their heads snapped in the direction of the door where all three of their children stood. They stared for a moment, wondering why the kids were up so early.

“Holy fuck, it’s Saturday,” Isabel realized.

“Saturday morning, definitely not our time,” Kane said.

Isabel nodded in agreement. “Okay, you three, we’re coming. Give us a few minutes.”

“Hurry up,” Sheshona ordered, sounding much like her mother.

The parents only nodded, hoping that would get the kids out of the room sooner. The trio left and their parents turned to each other. They sighed.

“I was about to get laid, wasn’t I?” Kane asked in a slight whine.

“I was going to make the attempt,” Isabel admitted.

“Fuck!” Kane screamed to the ceiling.

“Some other time, sweetie. Let’s get up,” she replied, patting him on the leg.

Kane grumbled every obscenity that he knew, in every language that he knew, which happened to be four different languages and a whole lot of curse words. He slowly crawled out of bed; Isabel was already out of the bedroom by then. He continued mumbling and looking rather sour as he marched down to the stairs into the living room.

The kids were set up for their morning ritual of Saturday morning cartoons, mostly. They were missing the one thing that made the morning special to them. That one thing flopped down on the sofa and three heads whipped around to grin at their obviously disturbed father.

“Morning, Daddy!” the kids all cheered.

“Morning,” Kane sort of burped out.

The kids did not seem bothered by his mood, turning their attention back to their cereal and the cartoons. When the cereal was done, the kids climbed on the sofa and flopped all over their father. Sheshona lay across his legs while the boys took opposite sides. Kane was now trapped for the morning and he stayed there through all of the cartoons with them, talking about the cartoons with them and everything.

Kane was ready to release the bunch into the wild of the backyard when the afternoon came. He planned to let them loose and then try to work with Isabel again. He stepped to the door just as a thunderclap echoed through the area and the heavens opened up, raining right down on his parade. Apparently, even the gods were against him getting laid.

“What have I ever done to you?!” Kane howled up at the sky, shaking his fist at whoever was up there.

“Dearest, who are you yelling at?” Isabel asked curiously as she stepped over to him.

“The fucking …” Kane motioned to the air and then just dropped his head in defeat. He knew when to give up.

“Sweetheart, calm down.” Isabel wrapped her arms around him. “We’re due a new quiet family day inside. Don’t get so discouraged.” She kissed the side of his head.

“I’m sorry. I’m just …” he trailed off. _I’m fucking frustrated, okay?_ He, the most laidback guy on the planet, was frustrated. But, he liked to think that he earned it considering everything that he had gone through in more than a year.

“I know. It’s okay. You’re allowed, Kane. You’re allowed to be upset every now and then. Just calm down, though. Today, hopefully, will not be our last day on this Earth,” she said to him in a gentle voice.

Kane nodded and then turned around to head back into the living room where the kids had their capes on. The parents let them jump around for a long time, wearing themselves out. Once they were out of energy to bounce around the house like the little whirlwinds they were, they settled down with their comic books.

Isabel sat off in a corner with Matteo, reading his comics to him; yes, he, too, had comic books. Matteo got into his “mine” stage and never seemed to get out of it, so to keep him from getting beaten up by Sheshona or Hadrian whenever he took their stuff, the parents made sure he got all of the same things as his older siblings. It saved them a lot of headaches.

Kane had his own comics out and was doing something his family thought was rather odd. He had a sketchpad with him and it appeared that he was drawing things out of his comics. They all eyed him for a moment before Sheshona decided to go check it out.

“Holy shit!” Sheshona shouted in surprise, getting everyone’s attention. Heads snapped in the direction of the couch.

“What?” Hadrian asked while crawling over there. He looked at what his sister was seeing and his jaw hit the floor. “Daddy can draw!”

Isabel was intrigued by the exclamation, but remained where she was. Matteo did not move either, so the mother continued reading. Hadrian and Sheshona were stuck in place, awed by what they were witnessing.

“Can you draw me Superman?” Hadrian requested in an excited tone.

“Can you teach me?” Sheshona begged.

“And me!” Hadrian chimed in, liking his sister’s idea very much.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Kane replied, thinking it would be nice for them to have a quiet hobby for once. “First, young padawans, let’s see what skills you possess.”

Kane went and fetched paper for each child. He handed them both pencils and told them to draw. They sat silently for many minutes, wanting their drawings to be perfect. Kane was done with his work and now starting another when the pair came back to him, both presenting their pieces.

Kane was about to inspect them, but Hadrian stole a glance at his sister’s before their father paid them proper attention. Hadrian looked back at his picture and frowned at what he saw on his paper.

“Wow, you’re both pretty good,” Kane said, examining their pictures. Well, he supposed that they were good for a six-year-old and a five-year-old. Okay, really, he was no art critic, so he did not know what was good or what was not.

Sheshona’s natural need to best everyone seemed to come out right then. “Mine’s is better!” she declared. It had to be something inherited from her mother; Kane was sure of that.

“It is nice,” Kane concurred.

“What?” Hadrian screamed much louder than they had ever heard him. He appeared seriously outraged to the point that his bottom lip trembled before he spoke again. “Mine is way better than hers! You’re just taking her side!”

Kane, not really in the mood or prepared for the outburst, looked utterly confused. _What the hell is the little prince going on about?_ Kane looked over in the corner, eyes pleading with his wife to handle this. Isabel answered the call, walking over while holding Matteo in her arms.

“Hadrian, your father isn’t taking sides. He just told Shona that hers was nice. Yours is very nice, too,” Isabel pointed out.

“Yeah, it kicks ass,” Kane concurred, shooting the boy two thumbs’ up just to prove his point.

“But, mine’s kicks more ass,” Sheshona chimed in with a proud grin.

“No, it doesn’t!” Hadrian argued, which seemed normal enough, but it was clear that he was genuinely offended. “Mine’s is a million times better than yours! Yours is ugly and Daddy’s just saying it’s nice cuz he don’t wanna hurt your stupid feelings!”

Sheshona rolled her eyes, treating his outburst like she would any other time he swore he was better than she was. She figured that they would get into a very fun fight for a few minutes and then they would go about their business. She was surprised when things did not follow their usual formula.

“Hadrian!” his parents scolded him, knowing that his rage was way beyond normal.

“What!” he shockingly screamed back.

“Who the hell are you talking to?” Isabel demanded. Her face was tight and stern now, letting the boy know it was time to tread lightly.

Hadrian looked down at his feet and mumbled, “Nobody.”

“I know you’re not talking to anybody in that tone. Now, you take your little ass upstairs and don’t come out until I tell you,” Isabel ordered.

Sheshona thought that was weird. “Why you’re sending him to his room? You’re being mean!” she accused her mother.

Isabel looked down at her daughter incredulously. _I’m being mean?_ The very idea was almost laughable and she did not bother with addressing Sheshona. She turned her attention back to Hadrian, who was not moving.

“March, now, little man! You make me have to move your ass and you’re going to regret it,” Isabel told the eldest.

Hadrian snarled and marched off to his bedroom, grumbling about how he hated his family. “I’d rather live with Jason!” he shouted from the top of the stairs.

“Don’t tempt me right now!” Isabel replied, but then she turned her eyes to Kane.

“He didn’t mean that. He’s just upset,” Kane assured her.

Isabel nodded, but she looked back up the stairs with worry in her eyes. She was not sure what to make of that outburst. Kane was not sure what to do either, so he turned his attention to Sheshona. The parents figured that they would allow Hadrian to cool off and then try to deal with him. So, they went about their business for the moment.

-8-8-8-8-

“So, what do you think we should do about Hadrian?” Isabel asked Kane. They had left the boy in his room all day because he did not want to apologize to Sheshona, who could not for the life of her figure out why he needed to apologize anyway. The kids were sleeping now.

“Let’s wait and see how he is tomorrow. Emotions were just running high for whatever reason. Maybe it was just because they couldn’t go outside today, so he couldn’t burn off his extra energy,” Kane replied while yawning. He flopped down onto the bed.

“You make a point. So, when were you going to tell me that you draw?” she inquired curiously.

“I haven’t done it for a really long time. I tend to just do it when I’m … bothered,” he admitted.

“Bothered?” she echoed and turned to him; she was standing across the room.

“Nothing,” he replied and held up his hands as if he surrendered.

“No, tell me,” she urged him as she crawled into bed next to him. She cuddled into his thick form, caressing his leg with her own.

“I just draw when I’m frustrated with some things. It’s been a while. I mean, the last time I drew anything was when I left you that time before Shona was even born. I drew a bunch of junk at that time.”

“Like?”

Kane looked at her and smiled a little. “Your face, Bella.”

“You drew me from memory?”

“Yeah. You’re etched in my mind. I’m not too good with people, though.”

“You can show me?” she requested.

“I left them all in Italy. I can have people ship them over here, although one of these days, we probably should make it to the house,” he realized.

“That sounds like a good idea. We could go for a vacation or something. You could introduce the kids to your family,” she proposed.

“I’m sure the kids would love that. My family can’t believe I actually found a woman crazy enough to bear my kids. You know they say ‘only in America.’ Just to let you know, most of them don’t think you’re a gold-digger or anything like that, just crazy,” he assured her with a playful smile.

“That is good to know,” she cooed, her voice sounding a bit distant now. She was more interested in caressing his leg with her own than anything else.

Kane noticed the attention and took a moment to purr thanks to rubbing. He looked down at her and saw that she had her eyes closed. He moved his arm to gently caress her arm, which got her to turn her eyes up to him.

“Shall we give this one more try?” he inquired.

“I am suggesting just that through my body language, idiot,” she pointed out, good-natured smile on her face.

“I’ll take ‘idiot’ as the term of endearment I know you mean it to be,” he commented before leaning down and capturing her lips with his own.

Isabel returned the kiss with fervor. Kissing was not a problem anymore. It was going beyond that she was not sure if she could take yet and they were about to find out. There should not be any more distractions by their count since all of the kids were in bed and asleep. Nightmares usually did not startle the children until around midnight and the nightmares were not that frequent anymore anyway. They hoped to have the night to themselves.

Kane did not press the issue, letting Isabel lead them. She set the pace for the session, from the time that they spent kissing to the switch to caressing. She removed both of their clothing, at an incredibly slow rate, even by Kane’s standards, but then again, the fact that he was practically dying for the moment of truth might have factored in heavily.

Isabel was moving in a way that almost mechanical. She was actually going through the steps in her head while noting that this was just about the least romantic encounter that she had ever had with her husband. She hoped that it did not feel that way to him. _Can he tell that I’m actually coaching myself through this? Can he tell that I’m completely over-thinking this to get through it?_ She quickly got the answers to those questions.

“Relax, Bella. It’ll come if it’s time and if not, there’s always tomorrow,” he commented. He did hope like hell that it was time, though.

“No, we’ve both waited so long. You deserve this and need this. _I_ need this. I’m ready for this. I know I am,” she replied in a determined voice.

She was nervous, or so the butterflies in her stomach implied, but she needed to go through with this. She did not want to spend the rest of her life anxious about making love to her own husband. So, she tried to turn her brain off, go by instinct, and hope that things would seem more natural.

Her hands glided across Kane, trying to remember how she used to touch him. Was it softer or harder than what she was doing now? She did not know, but she pressed on, taking in all of the skin that was on display just for her.

Kane hissed from the attention, but remained lying back, leaving it all to her. He whined a few times as she felt sensitive areas, attempting to re-familiarize herself with those places. She had touched them from making-out sessions and such, but not when he was totally bare before her, not that she could see much of him.

They were both situated underneath their covers. Isabel planned to pull those away soon enough, though. She was not shy about seeing his body. Her problem was just the thing that their bodies were soon to do: unite. She had to make it to that point.

Kane thrashed every now and then as she wandered with hands and soon with her mouth. She kissed every inch of him while ridding them and the bed of their troublesome blankets. She paused only when she got to the one part that caused her muscles to quake with fear.

“Bella, you don’t—Ah!” He was interrupted from trying to comfort her by her mouth doing scandalous things, things she had done in the past.

Isabel smirked to herself; glad to have shut him up. She was sick of hearing comforting words. _I want to sleep with my damn husband, dammit!_ She was going to get her way come Hell or high water.

The raven-haired woman noticed that things did not feel too strange and she was not nervous about what she was doing to Kane. She wondered if her feelings were because she was comfortable with being intimate with her husband now or because having him in her mouth was not the same as having him inside of her. For her, it was not as intimate and there was less of a chance for her to feel any sort of negative emotions from him in this position. Of course, there was also the fact that she could not get pregnant with him in her mouth.

She was not sure, but she did wish that her mind would stop trying to make her doubt herself. She loved Kane and she wanted to be with him again physically. She glanced up at him, seeing that he had his head thrown back to the side and his eyes shut tight. He was clutching the bed for dear life.

Internally, she smiled to herself. He was clearly reveling in her touch and she wanted him to do so. She wanted him to feel like he was in paradise again. She wanted him to feel everything that he used to feel with her and she wanted to do everything that she used to do with him.

“Bella … I’m gonna … I’m gonna …” He could not even get it out. He was not even sure how he was able to give that much of a warning.

Isabel understood what he was saying, but she did not care. She would give him his release. She would take everything that he had. He had been so patient with her that it was the only thing that she could do. He had waited for this for so long.

“Dammit!” Kane screamed to the ceiling as he erupted, not even caring if he might have woken the children. He could not believe how incredible that felt.

He collapsed onto the bed as he went and his skin flushed a dull red all over. His chest heaved as if he had just carried a ton of weight up a mountain; he had felt that way. But, now he was unburdened and light. He had to take a few moments to get his head together before he could cast his eyes down at Isabel, who was resting her chin on his hip.

“Thank you, Bella,” he managed to say.

“Thank me by standing at attention again,” she remarked with a small smirk playing on her lips.

“I might need some coaxing to do that,” he retorted with a grin.

“I think I can help you out in that area,” she replied, smiling a bit more now.

He really did not need much help as he realized that the covers were on the floor and he was able to see Isabel’s nude form. And then, she started attacking him with soft, wet kisses and curious, demanding caresses. So, no, it did not take much at all.

Kane felt a rush and feared that he might pass out when he felt himself surrounded by what had to be heaven in his opinion. He had to close his eyes for a moment to get his head together. He felt her hands guiding his to rest on her hips, tugging just a bit to hint that he could move his hands further back if he wished. He took her up on that offer.

“God, Bella …” he whispered in a reverent tone.

Isabel was softer than he recalled, but he knew that was due to her year in bed. She had been getting back in shape, but she still was not quite there yet. He could care less than a damn about that, though. Just being with her right now was enough.

Isabel rocked her hips in an experimental manner after just sitting there for almost a full minute. Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth and tears were actually welling up in her eyes before she even got started. Her muscles started to shake again; she was just feeling so overwhelmed. She almost collapsed ten seconds into the congress, but caught herself by putting her arms out and resting her palms on the bed. She was not sure how long her limbs would be able to support her quivering body, though.

“Kane …” she muttered, a tear sliding down her cheek.

“I know, Bella. I know,” he said as his hands gently caressed her waist, hips, and ass.

The bed groaned from the activity, obviously no longer used to any play between the couple. The complaints did not last long from the mattress as they did not last long. Isabel pulled away after Kane warned her that he was about to release again. She could not stand the thought of becoming pregnant again, so she moved off of him quickly just as he erupted for the second time that night.

“Fuck …” they both breathed to the air as they settled down.

“Shit, I needed that,” Kane commented. He did not even care that he was sweaty, wet, and sticky. He would take care of that later, right now, he was just happy as hell, which might explain the lazy grin on his face.

“Obviously,” she teased, smirk on her face to let him know what her words were directed toward.

“Hey, I lasted long enough for you to make it, too,” he pointed out. “Not that you could say much considering how long you lasted.”

“Oh, so what you’re saying is that you lasted roughly five minutes,” she taunted. “I mean, I have a chance at it multiple times while you only have that one.”

“Give me some time and I’ll be back to form and you’ll get your multiples again,” he assured her.

Isabel was going to tease him again, but she decided against it. Instead, she just curled up against him, not caring about his state of sweaty, stickiness. She rested her head against his shoulder and then tucked her face into the crook of his neck. He continued to grin dumbly.

“You know, we’re gonna be so screwed if the kids come in here tonight,” he commented, still smiling up a storm.

“I know,” she replied almost as if she did not care.

They did have some rather nosey children, who had no problem with inspecting strange noises. They also had kids that were not ashamed to climb in their bed without any good reason other than liking to be close to their parents. They could only imagine what the kids would do if the trio happened to walk in on their parents snuggling in the nude. They were sure that fighting would more than likely happen though; fighting was the children’s first solution for everything. Still, the couple lay there for a few minutes as if they did not have a care in the world.

“We should probably take a shower and get this place straightened out,” Isabel suggested. She really did not want to scar the kids for life if they did happen to come in.

“Yeah. I wish we could bask in the afterglow just a little longer,” Kane replied.

“Well, there’s always tomorrow and the day after that is a school day. We’ll have plenty of time then,” she pointed out. That got a devilish grin out of her content husband. They would have plenty of time to play later on. He hoped that it turned into a regular thing again and soon.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Hadrian and Sheshona seem to make up, now in school together and playing … for the moment anyway. Jason is back when a blood test is suggested.


	20. Drawn in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, or Matteo; they are owned by Disney. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Jason.

19: Drawn in 

Sheshona sped through the school’s moderately sized cafeteria, bobbing and weaving with an expertise that came from years of hyperactivity. It was lunchtime, which was her favorite time of the day. It had little to do with the food that was served for lunch; in fact, she had her own lunch from home prepared especially by her mommy. So, what made lunch so special?

“Hadrian!” Sheshona hollered at the top of her lungs, which seemed to be getting stronger by the day if her voice was any indication of things. She pushed her way through the crowd of other, bigger kids as she tried to make her way to her brother and his friends.

Hadrian was why Sheshona loved lunch. It was the only time that she got a chance to see her big brother, who was a grade ahead of her. Thankfully, their grades had the same lunchtime. If not, she would still be raising hell about what a rip-off school was.

Her first day at school had been something to remember considering all of the profanities that she shouted when she was informed that she had to go to a kindergarten class while her big brother was going to his first grade class. She was not appeased until she went to lunch and saw him there; by then she had already gotten into enough trouble that her teacher had to call her parents. Funny thing, as much trouble as she had gotten into over that phone call, her behavior in school was not corrected by much and her teacher was becoming very familiar with Kane and Isabel Go thanks to their daughter.

Hadrian was typically quite happy to see his sister and that day was no different. He grinned widely as she practically flew to him, landing in front of him with a loud “thud.” She grinned back at him and waved to his friends, three other boys.

The three other boys were all in Hadrian’s class. Hadrian was the tallest out of all of them; it was something that Sheshona thought was a mark of greatness on her brother’s part. The next boy that came close to Hadrian’s height was almost half-a-head shorter than he was and he went by the name of Jonathon. He was a thin boy and everything about him seemed to be the perfect smooth chocolate, from his hair to his eyes to his skin.

The shortest boy was a blonde with bright lime-colored eyes. He wore thick glasses that belied a very tough interior; it was surprising that he did not break his glasses constantly considering his wild antics, especially with his friends. His name was Christopher.

The last boy was another wild child with ginger hair and freckles sprinkled on his face. He was missing a tooth in front and it was debated whether he lost it naturally or if it fell out when he was roughhousing with Hadrian of all people. His name was Ian.

“We’re going to go play fight in the yard,” Ian informed the kindergartner as she stood before them.

Sheshona nodded vigorously, showing her approval of the idea. At first, when they let Sheshona play with them, she did not really get the concept of “play fight.” After all, when she and Hadrian “play fought” they actually hit each other and meant it. They just were not having a serious argument or something before fighting and it was something that they could walk away from laughing. School play fighting was not the same as home play fighting.

Hadrian, having been socialized the year before, had to explain to his sister what “play fighting” was after she almost kicked Christopher’s head off of his shoulders. Before she got into trouble, he told her the rules, which included no real hitting or at the most: no hard hitting. They did tumbles and flips while fighting each other and typically had a good time until some teacher or school aide thought that they were getting too rough.

They all charged out into the yard to do what they usually did. The yard was a big, open area, but there were three basketball courts, a baseball diamond, and a handball wall also to take up space. A little off in the corner were a few slides, seesaws, and swings. There was concrete all over, except for the little corner, which had black rubber padding. Fencing separated each section to avoid any problems of one game interrupting another.

The friends never bothered with going onto the padding to the fight with each other; it was always done in the open, concrete space. A school aide kept an eye on them; she thought that they required the special attention. She had seen them do some mighty dangerous things, after all.

“Okay, so we’re the good guys, Hego and Shego,” Hadrian declared while doing his best “Superman” stance where it looked like bullets would bounce off of his chest.

“You guys are always the good guys,” Jon objected with a frown on his slightly chubby face.

“Because we’re fucking cool,” Sheshona pointed out as if it was obvious.

“You guys are so lame!” Jon huffed, rolling his eyes. He actually thought that Sheshona was just about the funniest little creature that he had ever met.

“We’re cool! Our kung-fu is much better than your kung-fu!” Hadrian declared; he might have heard that from somewhere, but he was not too sure. Probably a movie, they all thought.

To prove his point, Hadrian attacked and Sheshona backed him up. They were now in their superhero personas, which meant that they had to exaggerate all of their moves. For them, it seemed more like a comic book if they had poses and sound effects; the sound effects they had to make on their own. They also made it a habit to call out the names of the moves that they were doing.

The friends all jumped around, “beating” the crap out of each other. They were making a lot of noise, as usual. They caught a few kids’ attention, but no one was really brave enough to go into the fray; many kids just watched them almost injury each other. Hadrian and his pals were sort of looked at as the toughest first graders around and no one really wanted to play fight with them. Sheshona, from what her peers could tell, was just plain insane and that was why she was able to survive the scuffles.

“Oh, that one looked like it hurt!” a random student commented with a grimace, watching the “fight.”

Sheshona had grabbed Ian and accidentally slammed him into the ground. She sort of got caught up in the move. He groaned when he hit the deck, but he put his hand out to make sure that he did not bust his chin open. She immediately moved off of him.

“Sorry, please, don’t cry!” Sheshona begged with a panicked look in her emerald eyes. She was aware that some kids cried rather easily over some things, although she could understand why he might cry from getting slammed onto the hard ground. She was pretty sure that Ian was not someone that easily cried, but she knew that she would get in a lot trouble if he did begin to sob.

“Cry? You’re an idiot, aren’t you, little Shona?” he teased with a smile.

“Hey, only my brothers and Daddy could call me that!” Sheshona hollered with an indignant frown as she attacked him again. He only laughed. 

They horsed around for the entire lunch period, not even eating their lunch. It was bad habit of theirs, but they never complained of hunger. They just all got an earful from their parents when they got home and mothers discovered uneaten food in their lunchboxes. That did not make the group think to eat lunch, though, even when their mothers threatened to stop making them lunch. That threat did not even work for Isabel.

“We can just eat the school lunch, Mommy,” Hadrian pointed out when Isabel asked him and Sheshona what would they do if she stopped making them lunch. It was a bluff, a HUGE bluff. He and Sheshona would rather starve to death than touch the school lunch, especially after his teacher told him that most of the stuff was made of rats; that was the reason the school did not have any rodents, the teacher explained.

“He’s got you there, Bella,” Kane remarked with a shameless grin while pointlessly swinging Sheshona around in the living room. Matteo was laid out on the floor, having been spun first; he was so dizzy, it was like he was drunk.

“Don’t encourage him!” Isabel scolded her husband.

“What? It made sense. Didn’t it, Shona?” Kane said while continuing to swing her in fast circles.

Sheshona was so messed up from being twirled that she could not even answer her father. He laughed as he realized that it was probably time to put her down. He stopped moving while placing Sheshona on the floor. She took one step and fell forward, right next to Matteo.

“Kane, if they throw up again, I’m going to fuck you up,” Isabel huffed, looking down at the two floored children. They appeared to be on the verge of being sick.

“What? It’s not my fault they can’t take the spin,” he replied with his usual grin.

“That’s it! I’ve had it with all of you. I quit,” Isabel declared, having a rare moment of pure silliness.

“But, if you quit, who’s going to make dinner?” Kane pretended to whine while feigning fear by making tight fists and shaking them in front of him.

“Take out!” Hadrian suggested as if he had just the most brilliant idea of all time.

“I’ve been replaced by a phone,” Isabel remarked as if she was hurt.

“And a guy that makes minimum wage,” Kane added in just to be annoying.

Isabel rolled her eyes. They did not end up ordering out; Isabel made dinner and, in the morning, she made lunch for the kids as usual. Kane walked them to school and the usual cycle began until lunchtime came.

There was an afternoon shower, the clouds bellowed and the heavens cried. Most of the school children felt like doing the same because they were not allowed to go into the yard thanks to the weather. Sheshona sat with her brother and his friends, even though she was supposed to sit with her class if they were in the lunchroom. They talked about comics and things like that.

“Oh, look, I was drawing a comic,” Sheshona said out of the blue as she fished through her book-bag.

“You draw, Shona?” the three friends asked in curious tone.

“Don’t call me that!” Sheshona growled and made sure to give each boy a swift bop on the head before pulling her sketchpad out from her backpack.

The boys only laughed; sometimes, it seemed like they enjoyed being hit by her. She opened her book to the first page of her very own comic and showed it to them all. The three friends looked impressed while Hadrian suddenly frowned and cut his eyes away from the images.

“My Daddy’s been helping me do it,” Sheshona informed them. “See, the girl is Shego and the guy is Hego. Shego is the sidekick, but you guys know that already. Hego is the main guy and right now, he’s about to smash a comet that’s going to destroy the planet,” she reported, motioning the scribbled panels in her sketchpad.

“This is good!” the boys praised her with wide, unbelieving eyes. They would have never thought that a kindergartner could do something so good.

“Daddy never said he was helping you make a comic,” Hadrian commented in a huff, scowling with his arms folded across his chest.

Sheshona smiled sheepishly. “Well, I was supposed to keep it a secret. I was gonna show you when I was done cuz I wanted to surprise you. It’s for you,” she explained with a slight blush on her cheeks. She was just so eager to show people that she used the first chance that she got to spoil things; _bad Shona_ , she mentally scolded herself.

Hadrian only continued to frown. He could not believe his father was going behind his back and teaching Sheshona to draw comics! _She already draws comics a hundred times better than me_ , Hadrian silently fumed. Now that she was getting secret lessons on how draw, so she would end up a million times better than he was, he was sure of that. The thought ate at his insides, causing an acidic burn in his throat as if he was about to throw up.

“Yo, Hay, you never said Sheshona could draw,” Ian said while admiring the girl’s work, leaning in close to look at the details.

“I can draw, too!” Hadrian declared, as if that had anything to do with the subject. “I’m way better than her, too!”

“Nah-uh! I’m the best drawer in the house!” Sheshona argued, patting herself in the chest.

“Your drawings is fucking ugly!” Hadrian barked with a snarl and pointing a threatening finger at her.

Sheshona appeared slightly taking aback by that response. Out of all of the things that they had ever said to make fun of each other, nothing ever seemed quite _that_ harsh and utterly serious. Sheshona decided to dismiss it and take it in stride; it was not like her brother was really trying to hurt her feelings, she thought.

“Nah-uh, yours is!” Sheshona countered. What was good for the goose was good for the gander, after all.

Hadrian pounded the table with his fists. “Take that back before I kick your ass!” he commanded in a heated tone, which attracted the attention of their “favorite” school aide.

“Hey, hey, hey, what’s going on over here?” the woman inquired, making sure to keep a civil tone since she knew that things were not typically as bad as they looked with this group.

“Nothing,” the crew, minus Hadrian, replied. 

“Hay is just mad cuz his little sister draw better than him!” Jon proclaimed with a laugh. The whole thing seemed so silly to him.

“Shut up!” Hadrian barked.

“Okay, first of all, Sheshona, where is your class sitting?” the school aide inquired.

“But, I don’t wanna sit wit them! They’re boring!” Sheshona complained, knowing that she was going to be sent back to her class.

“Go sit with your class, Shona. You know Mommy told you to listen to all the adults here,” Hadrian pointed out, sounding somewhere between smug and angry.

Sheshona frowned and grabbed her sketchbook back. She shoved it into her book bag and removed herself from the table. She marched over to her class and sat at the edge of the lunch table, scowling deeply. A few of her classmates tried to talk to her, but she did not want to hear it at the moment because she was trying to figure out why her brother sent her away and why he seemed upset with her.

By the end of the school day, Hadrian still seemed to be quite angry with Sheshona. She was not sure why and she decided to ask her mother about it; Isabel was the one that came to pick them up. Hadrian walked up ahead of his mother and his detested sister for the time.

“Mommy, Hadrian’s mad at me,” Sheshona said with a slight pout on her face that she clearly inherited from her father.

“Now, why would he be mad at you?” Isabel inquired curiously, as if such a thing was completely impossible.

“I dunno. He just is. He’s been like that since lunch,” the child answered with a shrug, shifting her book bag and causing it to make noise.

“Have you asked him?”

“Nope.”

“Try asking him and see what happens,” Isabel suggested.

Sheshona nodded and charged up to her brother. She asked him what was wrong, but he ignored her. She asked him why he was mad at her and he ignored her still. She frowned and fell back next to her mother.

“He not talking to me,” Sheshona reported with an outraged scowl.

“Give him some time and space and we’ll find out what’s wrong. Maybe he’ll work through it on his own,” Isabel replied.

Sheshona nodded and sure enough, Hadrian seemed to work through it on his own. Later on that day, he was back to talking to her. He played a few games with her and they practiced their martial arts together as always. They worked on their homework together; yes, they went to a school where the kindergartners received daily homework.

Hadrian frowned when he caught sight of Sheshona’s sketchbook in her book bag. He could not believe that she carried hers around. Kane had brought both young artists their own books, but Hadrian left his under his bed most of the time. He liked drawing, but did not do it often because he did not think that he was very good at it.

“Daddy, you been teaching Shona how to draw?” Hadrian demanded out of the blue and caught Kane off guard. He was trying to help Sheshona with some math problems.

“Huh?” Kane asked while looking up.

“You been teaching Shona how to draw?” Hadrian repeated in the same demanding voice as before.

“What’s that tone?” Isabel inquired; she was sitting next to Hadrian, helping him with his spelling words. They were all camped out in the living room.

Hadrian frowned deeper, feeling that he was being scolded for no reason. “I was just asking a question.”

“Nothing wrong with that, but watch your tone. That’s your father you’re talking to,” Isabel reminded him.

Hadrian was ready to make a remark about how Jason was his father, too; in fact, the few times that he saw Jason, the man claimed to be his “real” father, whatever that meant. The point was that … well, no, Hadrian did not really have a point. He would have just been trying to be a smartass if he spoke his thoughts and he knew that.

“You been teaching Shona how to draw?” Hadrian repeated, doing his best not to grit his teeth or sound as bothered as he was.

“Shona, I thought the comic was gonna be a secret surprise?” Kane asked, poking the girl in the side with the pencil that he was holding. He recalled how enthusiastic the little girl had been when she thought of making a comic starring Hego. She thought that her big brother would be so pleased with … so imagine her surprise with his reaction earlier that day.

“I was, but then it rained and I wanted to show Jon, Ian, and Christopher! They thought I was great!” Sheshona grinned. “I am, you know.”

“Yes, you are,” Kane agreed and he grabbed her into a tight bear hug, which got a few giggles out of her.

Hadrian frowned, which his mother noticed. Isabel leaned down to his level and gently grabbed his chin. She turned Hadrian to look at her.

“Little prince, what’s wrong?” Isabel asked in a surprisingly tender tone.

“Nothing,” he grumbled and turned back to his homework.

Hadrian focused on his homework, but in the back of his mind, he was thinking of things that Jason had been telling him through out his short life. Things like how Kane was not his real father and probably showed Sheshona and Matteo much more attention that he did Hadrian. At the moment, that seemed quite true.

“Mommy … can I call Jason tonight?” Hadrian asked in a somewhat quiet tone.

“Jason? You want to talk to him?” Isabel countered, hoping that she heard wrong. She hated when Hadrian actually wanted to hang out with Jason. Suffering through her ex-boyfriend was a major headache every time that she saw the man. What she hated the most, though, was the fact that she was certain that Jason was corrupting and using her son.

That caught Kane’s attention and he turned to look over at his wife and their son. Isabel gave him a sympathetic glance, knowing that out of the few things in life that bothered Kane, Hadrian wanting to speak with Jason was at the top of the short list. She then turned her attention back to Hadrian.

“If you want to speak with him, we’ll call him before bedtime,” Isabel told Hadrian.

The boy nodded and Isabel gazed back at Kane for a moment. Despite the fact that it was his suggestion in the beginning, Kane disliked Hadrian spending time with Jason. He often wondered what kinds of things that man was filling his son’s head with on the rare occasions that they spent time together. He, of course, did have a reason to worry.

-8-8-8-8-

“What did the little prince have to say to that man?” Kane asked his wife later on that night. They were lying in bed after having put the children to sleep and getting a nightly workout.

“Nothing much. Just wanted to know if Jason would take him to play baseball this weekend,” Isabel reported, snuggling into him as usual. She sometimes wondered if he was somehow so cuddly on purpose.

“I can play baseball,” Kane declared, earning a chuckle from his wife.

“Dearest, I’ve seen you ‘play’ baseball. A cow having a seizure looks less awkward,” she remarked. _And I thought that I was bad at sports_ , she thought.

“Well, I could learn. I don’t like him hanging around Jason. I think he’s putting bad ideas in Hadrian’s head.” That was Kane’s main concern with their son being with that man. He was certain that Jason was ruining their son in some manner and he wished to save Hadrian any sort of emotional scars.

“I know what you mean. If you want, we could tell the little prince to stop calling Jason,” she proposed. She wanted any excuse to get her ex out of their lives. He was not doing any of them any good.

“But, if we did that, wouldn’t he want to go to court? Isn’t that the main worry? The whole thing that got us into this mess?” he pointed out. He remembered how worked up Isabel was about going to court, how she was so sure that they would lose.

“Indeed. Perhaps it’s time for a blood test. We can find out if Jason even has a leg to stand on with this crap.”

Kane nodded in agreement with that, even though his body did seem to tense up. She noticed immediately and hugged him tighter. She also caressed his stomach, which was actually a sensitive area for him. She thought it was bit funny that he enjoyed having his tummy rubbed.

“No matter what happens, Kane, you’re still his daddy,” she pointed out in a low tone, still caressing his abdomen. “You’ll always be his daddy.”

“Thanks, Bella,” he whispered while closing his eyes.

“Why are you thanking me, idiot? You know you’re his daddy no matter what,” she commented and kissed his neck, feather light, wet kisses.

“Do you think that getting a blood test would bother Hadrian in any way?” the auburn-haired male asked while tilting his head a little bit to give her better access to his neck. 

“Aside from the fact that he’ll be stuck with a needle? I doubt it. We don’t have to tell him why he’s getting his blood tested.”

“Do you think that Jason will agree?” he asked curiously.

“I don’t see why not. I doubt he wants to spend time with Hadrian if they don’t share blood. That’s just the way he is,” she replied.

“And what did you see in that guy anyway?” he inquired. He did not really care that she dated him, but he could not understand why she bothered with Jason in the first place.

“Jealous?” she teased while smiling into his warm flesh.

“Fuck, no. I’m with you and I’m not giving you up. I just don’t understand what you ever saw in him. I also don’t get what he saw in you. I mean, I love you and everything, but you don’t seem like you would be his type,” he explained as best he could. He hoped that it did not sound too bad.

She laughed a bit. “Honestly, I don’t know what he ever saw in me, aside from the fact that I’m nice to look at. We were as different as night and day. I, personally, liked the attention,” she admitted. It was the only thing that she could figure out for why she had dated Jason. It baffled her now, especially after her years with Kane.

“Well, I’ll be sure to keep giving you attention,” he commented with a smile.

“I’m sure you will.” She had no doubt that Kane would always be there for her, making her feel like the sun in his world.

Kane did not respond. He just lay there contently as Isabel continued to rub his belly and kissing his neck until he fell asleep, which was about a minute later. She smiled to herself; he was just too adorable sometimes.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel took Hadrian to hang out with Jason. It was still a rainy time, so they were not able to go out and play baseball in the park like Hadrian desired, but Jason knew where there were some inside batting cages. Isabel stuck around for a while to propose the idea of them doing a blood test on Hadrian to find out if he was Jason’s son.

“What do you think?” Isabel inquired after explaining it all to Jason while Hadrian swung wildly at the baseball being pitched at him from a machine. The machine was going rather slowly, but the boy was only six years old.

“I don’t see why we have to. He’s clearly my son. Did your midget think of this idea?” Jason countered, sounding haughty for some reason that she would never understand. She could not figure out why he thought he was being clever when he made fun of Kane; it did not take much to make fun of her husband, after all.

“The point is, we should get a blood test,” she argued calmly, glancing over his insult of her husband.

“Why? I’ve already been taking care of him all this time.”

She could not help arching an eyebrow. “You call seeing him once or twice a month taking care of him? You have an extremely weird vocabulary if that is the case.”

“I’ve been doing stuff for him,” Jason huffed, folding his arms across his chest in a defensive manner.

She waved that off, not bothering to point out how untrue it was. “Anyway, the fact that of the matter is that we should get a blood test and find out if you need to keep ‘doing stuff for him’ anymore,” she commented.

“I’ll do what I want for him.”

Isabel frowned. “You’re just going to be difficult about these things. Why would you even care? You weren’t so worried about him when he was born and through out his early years. Now, all of a sudden you wish you could win ‘Father of the Year.’ It won’t be happening. Dare I even propose the theory I have in mind? I mean, should it be true, you’re a bigger asshole than I ever would have suspected.”

It was not Jason’s turn to frown. “And what theory would that be?”

“That you’re using Hadrian to be around me and try to either win me back or get on my nerves,” she stated plainly.

The large man scoffed. “I have my own life. It doesn’t begin or end with you.”

“Good to know. Then take this test, so I can either be rid of you or get more out of you for Hadrian,” she remarked, very much lying on the latter part. She just wished to be rid of Jason, especially with the fact that his presence was starting to trouble Kane.

“Iz, Hadrian is clearly mine. Let’s just leave it at that,” Jason said.

Isabel frowned and decided to drop the matter. Fine, he wanted to be difficult, she would leave it at that. She did not really need him to agree anyway.

“I’ll be back for Hadrian by five. Don’t make me have to look for you,” Isabel said and she walked off.

Jason shook his head and turned his attention to Hadrian. _Why would I get a blood test?_ Hadrian was clearly his son and that was that in his opinion. He was not going to allow Isabel a chance to pull a fast one and cheat him out of his own son.

“Come on, Hadrian, hold the bat up and wait for the right moment to swing,” Jason coached the boy. Hadrian obeyed the command.

While watching Hadrian’s form, all he could think was that Kane was ruining his son. Hadrian could not even play baseball. The boy did not know anything about sports and he always wanted to go buy comic books. _What the hell is that short bastard teaching him?_

“So, Hay, how’re things at home?” Jason asked curiously.

“It’s okay. Daddy’s been showing Shona how to draw,” Hadrian reported while swinging and missing.

“Who?” Jason demanded to know.

“Oh … I mean, Kane’s been showing Shona how to draw. She’s pretty good …” the child continued.

“That’s nice. He hasn’t been doing that with you?”

“No, just Shona …” Hadrian’s voice dropped in volume, trying to mask his disappointment. He was not doing the best at hiding his emotions. He really wished that he could draw as well as Sheshona and he wished that Kane would pay him special attention like he thought Kane did with Sheshona.

“I told you that he cared more about her than he does about you because you’re my son, not his. He’s always going to be that way. He doesn’t care about you,” Jason pointed out.

Hadrian nodded, believing those words to be quite true at the moment. Jason went back to coaching Hadrian on how to hold the bat and hit the ball. There were quite a few strikes, but their conversation continued despite those.

-8-8-8-8-

The rain had passed and once again the school children were allowed to play in the yard. Hadrian’s friends were still going on about Sheshona’s cool drawings. They went so far as to ask her to see her sketchbook again, which she had no problem showing. She even had a new picture that her father helped her do the night before. The trio wowed over the new picture just as they had the other pictures. Hadrian silently seethed.

“Hey, let’s just play, anyway!” Hadrian declared. “Shona, put the book away.”

The little sister wasted no time obeying Hadrian. Her book went back into her bag and then she waited to hear what they were going to play. Hadrian seemed to think on it for a while and then it was like a light bulb went off in his head. He grabbed one of his friends.

“Me and Jonathon will be Hego and Superman and you three be the bad guys,” Hadrian said, including his sister in that.

“But … but, Shego’s a good guy!” Sheshona objected wildly. “Shego’s Hego’s sidekick!” she reminded him. _How could he do that?! I’m supposed to be a good guy with Hego and help him stop the bad guys!_

“Well, today, Shego is a bad guy. In fact, she’s Ian’s sidekick,” Hadrian decided and point to Ian, who grinned widely.

Sheshona growled and frowned; out of the three friends, Ian got on her nerves the most because he tended to act very familiar with her. He grinned and threw his arm around her small shoulders. She shoved him away from her.

“Don’t worry, Shona. I’ll treat my little sidekick really good. We’ll take over the world!” Ian declared with his best evil laughter, which was kind of good.

Sheshona continued to frown. _Why did Hadrian make me a bad guy?_ _Shego’s supposed to be a superhero all the time, like Hego_. Even though things were weird, Sheshona became Shego and was a bad guy for the first time. She hoped that it was the last time.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: welcome the twins!


	21. Family affair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, or Matteo; they are owned by Disney. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Jason. I also don’t own Marvel or DC comics; if I did, I wouldn’t be quite as pissed with them as I am at the moment.

20: Family affair

Isabel arranged for a blood test without Jason. They did not get many results. Hadrian and she shared the same blood type and that was the best the test could do. His father was still a mystery as far as blood went. As far as she was concerned, Hadrian was Kane’s son and Kane was his daddy.

Isabel had it all rationalized and would explain to it all to Jason if he ever tried to seriously insult her husband. His jokes were nothing, but she was waiting for him to arrogantly declare himself to be a better father than Kane or some other nonsense; she was certain he would do it one day if given enough time. And then she would have to destroy him with logic and examples to the point where she hoped that she would crush him enough for him to leave her family alone.

Even if Jason was Hadrian’s biological father, Kane was still his “daddy.” A father … any man could be such a thing if one were using the term loosely enough as far as Isabel was concerned. A daddy was something altogether different. A father put a half in to create a child, a daddy stayed around to raise the child the right way. A daddy showed affection and love toward a child, wanting the best for the child. A daddy was there every day, every minute and protected the child with everything that he had. That was Kane and she knew that it would always be Kane.

Kane did not give things much thought like Isabel did. He just did what he had to do and enjoyed it most of the time. He liked being a daddy, after all. 

-8-8-8-8-

“I’m not riding that stupid thing anymore!” Hadrian declared while kicking “that stupid thing.” _Damn bike_ , he cursed mentally. He was pretty sure that he had never fallen so many times in under a minute than he had since his father wheeled out the stupid, bloody contraption.

“Man, get on that bike before I have your mother nail you to it,” Kane teased. They were in the front yard of the house. Kane was showing Hadrian and Sheshona how to ride bicycles while Isabel was watching Matteo on his tricycle.

“I’ll do it, too,” Isabel chimed in while keeping Matteo from riding into the gate for the millionth time, or so it seemed. She could not figure out why out of the entire driveway that he had to choose from, Matteo only seemed to want to ride into the gate or on the grass. _Does he just to crash or be stuck? Where’s the fun in that? Of course, it does get him a lot of attention, so that would explain why he’s doing it._

“But, this thing is fucking stupid!” Hadrian huffed, giving the bicycle another swift kick.

Kane just shook his head and then cast his gaze out for Sheshona. She was doing fine for a moment and then crashed into the curb. She was off the bike and lying in the grass as if she fell from the sky. Hadrian took a moment to laugh at her and then go help her up.

“You okay?” Hadrian asked his little sister.

“Stupid fucking bike!” Sheshona screamed and she charged the monstrosity that was the bane of her existence. _Who the hell thought to make a thing with only two wheels anyway?!_

Sheshona proceeded to stomp on her bike; a green cycle with pictures of the Incredible Hulk. She had recently gotten into his comic while her big brother was fascinated with Captain America; those heroes were their first ventures outside of DC comics. Sheshona had been trying to find a bike with She-Hulk on her, as she was very much in love with the character too, but it would seem that She-Hulk was not as popular as the Hulk.

“This is amusing if nothing else,” Isabel quipped while watching Sheshona and Hadrian beat up their bikes for about the tenth time that day alone. The pair was not very graceful when it came to bike riding, which she thought was odd considering how well they performed martial arts.

“Guys, don’t beat up the bikes!” Kane begged, but he did not move to stop them.

The duo eventually gave up on fighting their rides and got back on the things. Kane gave them pushes to start them off as usual. He did not follow them as they wobbled on the bikes because he just could not keep up. He did not walk or run fast enough to catch them if they did fall, and yes, they did fall plenty of times.

Their parents stuck with them until they stopped falling, though. Bike riding was just one of the many things that Isabel and Kane had to show their kids that would upset the kids until they got it. One of Kane’s specialties in that area would be videogames.

-8-8-8-8-

“Oh, you’re a fucking cheater!” Hadrian screamed while throwing down the game controller with quite a bit of force. Sheshona glanced up from her sketchbook to see what her brother was screaming about; she was sitting off to the side while her father and brothers were on a sofa.

“Ah, don’t be a whiner, little prince. I’m just king around here,” Kane teased with a wide grin while slapping himself on the chest a few times in triumph.

“I’m emperor!” Matteo chimed in to claim his title. He pumped his fist in the air while speaking, as if that made his words all the more true.

The group was in the basement, which Kane had converted into a game room. There were arcade games, pinball, air hockey, and two gaming consoles. They had an Atari and a Nintendo, which was what he and Hadrian were playing. They were playing a boxing game on a giant television.

“My turn!” Matteo shouted while crawling over to the controller that his brother abandoned.

“I don’t wanna play anymore. You’re a fucking cheater!” Hadrian shouted at Kane again, pointing at auburn-haired male.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Kane said, grabbing Hadrian’s hand. He then yanked the boy to him and wrapped him in a tight bear hug. “Who are you talking to like that? And since when do you give up just because you lost?” he inquired in a calm tone.

“I’m giving up cuz you’re a damn cheater! Lemme go! I’m gonna go call Jason and hang out with him!” Hadrian stated with fire in his tone and in his eyes.

Kane frowned; he was getting a little tired of Hadrian’s new thing. The boy got frustrated and then he ran to Jason; it was almost like clockwork now. It was not a good habit in his parents’ opinion.

“You got me confused with your mommy, little prince. You know I won’t take you to go see him,” the daddy pointed out.

“Why not?” Hadrian demanded.

“Because I don’t have to. Now, sit you little ass down and play this game like everyone else,” Kane ordered.

He released the boy and Hadrian listened, but made sure to look quite resentful while doing so. They sat down and played the game again. Eventually, Hadrian started winning and he was shouting new things: bragging. Kane rolled his eyes, but he let the boy go. Hadrian was quickly silenced after Matteo somehow managed to beat him in the game. Kane was dying of laughter by that point because Hadrian looked like the world had been dropped on him while it was Matteo’s turn to brag.

-8-8-8-8-

“Did you have a good time with the kids?” Isabel inquired, speaking to Kane. They were in their bedroom after putting the children down to bed.

“We always have a blast when you go off to work. That’s why they don’t want to go with you anywhere anymore,” he replied, sticking his tongue out at his wife from across the room.

“Please, if I tell them tomorrow that I’m shooting a scene with flying and swords and they would be all over me, begging me for a chance to go,” Isabel commented with a smug look.

“Are you?” he asked, almost sounding frightened.

“No. They’re all yours again tomorrow, dearest.”

Kane grinned widely, loving it when he got to babysit. He charged the bed and dived onto it next to her. She walloped him as soon as he landed, smacking him soundly in the side of the head.

“Don’t jump on the bed, idiot,” she huffed.

“Yeah, I should just jump on you,” he remarked with a predatory smile. He attacked before she had a chance to respond. She accepted his assault, his mouth on hers, his hands all over her body, and she countered with her own moves of reaching out to rub his stomach. Their love life seemed to be back to normal.

Their lives seemed back to normal … well, as normal as their children would allow things to be. They had to deal with Hadrian and Sheshona beating each other up, Matteo running around yelling his favorite word: mine, and sometimes Isabel counted Kane as a kid, and she had to deal with him groping her at very inappropriate times. That persisted for a couple of years.

-8-8-8-8-

“Kane, baby, we need to talk,” Isabel said. It was early in the morning and the only reason Kane was awake was because he agreed to take Matteo to Isabella’s house that day.

“I don’t like the sound of that early in the morning with no breakfast,” he grumbled as he practically fell into a chair at the dining room table. He rubbed his eyes for a moment as if that would help wake him up more.

She chuckled a bit. “Breakfast will come along after we talk.”

“Bacon better be involved then …”

“Or else what?” she teased.

“Or else I have something else for breakfast. It’s soft, pink, and—” He was smacked in the head before he had a chance to finish that description.

Before Kane could pretend to complain about the hit, Isabel was sitting in his lap. His hands automatically went around her waist, resting on her hips. She threw her arms around his neck for a moment before grabbing one of his hands and moving it to her abdomen.

Kane’s face knotted up. He knew that she had not moved his hand for no good reason; after all, she did not have a weakness in having her stomach rubbed. She rested her forehead against his while waiting for him to put two and two together. Suddenly, after almost a minute, his eyes widened.

“Bella, this is way better than bacon!” he commented with a grin.

She smiled a bit and laughed. “I figured you would think that, but … I’m nervous, Kane,” she admitted. Truthfully, she was more than nervous if the quiver in her stomach meant anything. She was ready to start shaking like a leaf in a storm and her mind started drifting to thoughts of Azrael.

“Don’t worry, Bella. I’m here for you. Everyone’s here for you, like always,” he promised.

“After this, Kane, no more. Please,” she requested in a quiet tone.

Kane’s brow wrinkled as his mind processed what she was asking. She did not want any more children. He could understand why, knowing that she was never going to get over losing their third son; hell, he doubted that he was ever going to get over the loss of Azrael. He could not even fathom how scared she had to be right now to be pregnant again, so all he could do was hold her tightly and hope she understood him.

“I’m with whatever you decide, Bella. I’ve already got a little tribe with the three and for you to bless me with this one is beyond wonderful,” he replied, smiling so genuinely that it was easy to hear it in his voice.

Isabel only smiled and cuddled closer into his thick, solid frame. He held her, gently caressing her stomach. _So, we’ve created another life_ , he thought. _We’re certainly good at that,_ he commented mentally to amuse himself.

The moment did not last as long as they would have liked. Sheshona came stumbling in and went right to Kane. She was obviously still half-asleep as she fell against both of her parents. She hit her father’s legs and caught herself against her mother’s torso. She lightly punched her mother in the leg.

“Get off my daddy …” Sheshona ordered in a sleepy mumble.

“You don’t own my husband, little firefly,” Isabel teased, caressing the top of Sheshona’s head.

“My daddy …” the girl repeated, staking her claim from the sound of things.

“Well, let me get up and start on breakfast while you get the X-men ready to go,” Isabel said to Kane.

He grinned and laughed. “You called them the X-men! You’re starting to learn about comics!”

Isabel bristled, as if he had just seriously insulted her. “I’m not turning into a geek like you and the kids,” she stated soundly.

Kane continued to smile and grabbed up Sheshona. “We’re not geeks, right, Shona?”

“Hell … no …” she breathed out, curling into his chest and falling right back to sleep. He chuckled a bit and got up to get her and her brothers ready to greet the day. He hoped that it would be a normal day after receiving such good news that he was going to be a daddy again sometime soon.

Later on, Sheshona and Matteo were quite happy to find out that they would be getting a new brother or sister. Hadrian was not quite as joyous as he had been the first three times he had heard that news, which his parents noticed. They were not too sure what to make of the eldest’s attitude.

“Make sure you’re a brother!” Sheshona shouted to her mother’s slightly swollen stomach.

“You don’t want a sister this time around?” Isabel asked curiously.

“No, I want a brother. The one that was supposed to be with us last time,” Sheshona explained. She wanted to see Azrael already. She wondered why he had not stayed with them the first time. She hoped that it did not mean that Azrael did not like them.

“Well, you’re in luck!” Kane chimed in. “That’s just who this little guy is!” he promised the kids while rubbing his wife’s abdomen.

“Good. I wanna tell him about everything he missed when he didn’t come the first time and how we like him a lot and we wished he came the first time,” Sheshona replied and Matteo nodded. They could not wait to see their brother now.

Hadrian rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna tell him before you do!” he teased his little sister and shoved her slightly.

The push started a fight between the pair as usual. Matteo whimpered from the fight and turned to look at his parents. They were smiling a bit, looking amused, so he was able to figure out that this was not one of his siblings’ “bad” fights.

There were now times when Hadrian and Sheshona had bad fights. They were rare, but tended to start with Hadrian yelling something at their sister or hitting her for no good reason. Matteo did not like that much and sometimes dared to step in, even though Hadrian was a huge seven by now and he was only a little four. He stayed out of that fight.

-8-8-8-8-

“You really go all out when you decide to do something for the last time, huh?” Victoria teased Kane as they looked in on the hospital’s nursery. She was holding Matteo up to see while Kane had Sheshona on his shoulders. Hadrian was standing next to his grandmother.

“I can see why Bella needs some sleep after this. Not only did she have one more than what we bargained for, but they’ve got huge heads!” Kane joked, eyes locked on his newest children. Isabel had had twins.

“They take after their idiot father,” Isabella commented while slapping her son-in-law in the side. She would have hit him in the head, but Sheshona was blocking the way.

“Mine!” Matteo proclaimed, talking about his new brothers.

“Uh … no, they’re mine!” Sheshona replied with force.

“I’m oldest, they’re mine!” Hadrian chimed in.

“These are some selfish brats. What haven’t they claimed yet?” Isabella wondered aloud.

“Hmm … the world?” Victoria offered.

“Please, that was the first thing that Matteo claimed to be his. I can only wonder if these two will be the same,” Isabella remarked. Her grandchildren had a habit of claiming everything as theirs, even family members. Now, Matteo claimed everyone since he seemed to believe that he owned everything. Sheshona claimed Kane while Hadrian claimed Isabel. Sheshona had ownership over their grandmother while Hadrian had taken their aunt. What that ownership did, none of the adults could figure out.

“I hope Bella’s all right,” Kane said.

He got his answer soon enough when they went to the hospital room. Isabel was lying in the bed, apparently just waking from her sleep. She allowed herself to smile as her family entered the room.

“How are the babies?” she asked immediately, even though she could guess from the way everyone looked.

“Beautiful, just like their mother,” Kane replied with a soft smile.

“Actually, they’re terrifyingly similar looking to their father,” Isabella remarked with a forced shudder.

“So they’re damn cute, just like their pappy,” Victoria chimed in.

“Hadrian, give Mommy a straight answer and tell me how your baby brothers are,” Isabel requested. The boy almost grinned from the honor placed on him to inform his mother how the babies were doing. He felt so important.

“Fine. We just saw ‘em,” Hadrian reported with a nod.

Isabel sighed in relief. “That’s good …” She closed her eyes for a moment to just take the information in. Her babies were fine and healthy. They were alive.

They all made small talk for a couple of minutes. Victoria and Isabella took the kids out of the room to give Kane and Isabel sometime alone. Kane pulled up a chair to her hospital bed and then found out something almost embarrassing; her bed was so high that when he sat down, his head barely came up to the side. She smiled a bit while he looked around as if he was confused.

“So … did you really get your tubes tied?” Kane asked curiously. There was nothing disapproving or accusing in his tone. Just gentle curiosity.

“Uh-huh,” she answered in a low tone with a nod.

“Okay. How do you feel?” he inquired with tender concern.

“Tired.”

“That’s understandable. If you see the heads on our boys, you’d know why you’re so tired. How you get those big heads out? How the hell did you even carry both of those big heads?” he teased, laughing a bit.

She forced out a smile. “As long as they’re healthy.”

“Well, that they are. As soon as you’re up to it, I’ll get the nurses to bring them in. They do look just like me just to warn you,” he said with a proud grin.

Isabel rolled her eyes. “You always think our babies look like you.”

“Because they do. They’ve got my hair.”

“Oh, wow,” she said sarcastically.

“No, but seriously, they do look like me. I’ve got baby pictures back in Italy. I’ll show you that they look like me when I was a baby.”

“As soon as we go to Italy,” she remarked. It was not a trip that they had made yet. She wondered if they ever would.

Kane continued to grin. They were quiet for a while and he took her hand in his. He massaged her knuckles, letting her know that he was there. She smiled, too.

When the twins were brought in, Isabel had to concede that the boys did look like Kane. They were not the splitting image of him like Sheshona was with her, but they did favor him heavily. She smiled softly when looking down at the boys.

“See, this is the one that got away and this is the one that is brand new,” Kane said while kissing the side of Isabel’s head.

Isabel sniffled, appearing as though she might cry. _Is one of them the baby boy that we lost years back?_ She liked to believe that.

“Do we get to split the naming duties or what?” Kane inquired curiously.

“You can name one and I’ll name the other,” she replied.

Kane grinned. Isabel named one of the boys Wen Kwan. She just liked the name Wen and Kwan was after her maternal grandfather; a man that she admired and who adored her. Kane went with the name Wes and let Isabel pick the middle name because he noted that she liked to put her family members’ names in their children’s names to give them a connection to the Han family since their last names were Go. Wes was named Wes Ferdinand, after Isabel’s favorite uncle.

It had been tempting to name one of the boys Azrael, but the parents refused to do that to the boys. Yes, Kane believed that the soul of their lost son was housed in Wen; the older of the twins by a whole two minutes. Even so, he just could not put the name that was etched on a gravestone in a Han family plot on one of the twins.

The twins were welcomed into the family, just like all the other kids. The older siblings were trying to get the pair to play already, like they always tried to do, but were quicker to figure out that the babies would not be able to play for a while. They were a bit upset by it, but they had more than enough things to occupy their time until the babies were ready to play.

The kids were fascinated by the fact that the twins looked exactly alike. They began playing games on trying to figure out which one was which. Isabel amazed them by always knowing who was who with the twins.

Kane noted that Isabel was still rather tired from giving birth after she came home from the hospital. He proposed that they should take a vacation for the summer, which was months away. He knew that it would not do them much good to take newborns out, but he thought that it would be fine for when they were few months older. Isabel did not object to the idea.

-8-8-8-8-

It was Isabel’s suggestion to go to Italy. She wanted to meet Kane’s family and she wanted the kids to meet his family. Kane did not object, but he did appear quite reluctant to go along with that. He was not too sure how his Italian family would react to his new family, but he did think that it was only right for them all to know each other.

He decided that going to his house and having his family come to them would be better than going to their homes individually. It was like having home court advantage and also he would be able to throw people out if things got out of hand. He just hoped that things did not get out of hand … which he knew would happen no matter what because everyone in his family was crazy.

“I can show you all my baby pictures and junk now,” Kane informed Isabel with a proud grin on his face as they entered his house.

He rushed off to find everything while the kids looked around their daddy’s mansion. It was like being in a museum, they all thought. They were not sure if they were even allowed to touch anything.

“You three, go play,” Isabel urged the kids. “Be careful not to break anything, though. Everything in Daddy’s house is older than you are,” she added as a warning.

The kids nodded to show that they understood and they charged off. Isabel quickly found someplace to sit. She felt exhausted and she had not even done anything aside from push the twins in a stroller up the walkway. Sometimes, just looking at the twins wore her out, though.

“You two are a lot of work,” she remarked with a smile while reaching into the stroller to fix Wes’ clothes. Wes was sporting a scratch across the bridge of his nose thanks to his older siblings. Whenever Isabel turned her back, one of the kids would always scratch Wes because they could not tell the boys apart without the mark. The kids were convinced that their mother was some kind of witch just because she could tell the twins apart without any sort of scratch or sign. It had to be magic, they all thought.

Isabel looked down at the twins, realizing that she was going to have to feed them soon. That thought made her sigh, too. They were definitely a lot of work, but if the small smile on her face meant anything, she did not really mind. She was actually quite glad to have them, even though it was not something she would admit out loud … not too often anyway.

“Okay, Bella, prepare to be amazed at how much these guys look just like me,” Kane declared as he seemed to come out of nowhere.

Well, he really did not come out of nowhere; he was just talking very loudly. He was several yards away from her, though. He had a box in his arms, which he put down next to her. He grabbed a book from the box, which was full of photo albums. He cracked the one that he was holding. Photos of himself as a baby were right there on the first page.

Isabel chuckled a bit as she gazed upon her husband as a newborn. Yes, the twins did look like him as a baby, except the twins did not have his purple eyes; the twins had brown eyes. Kane was a surprisingly fat baby, too.

“And you were talking about the twins’ heads. Look at the one you had,” Isabel teased, gazing at the photo with loving eyes.

“Hey, I grew into it!” Kane argued with a smile.

She chuckled and then started flipping through the album. The first few pages were exclusively Kane as a decidedly bigheaded baby. Then they came to pictures of Kane’s mother holding him. Kane let a warm, but sorrowful smile work its way onto his face while Isabel just appeared thoughtful.

“You do look a lot like her …” Isabel said in a low, gentle tone.

Kane only nodded. The next few pages showed Kane, his mother, and his father. Kane did not look a thing like his father. Isabel had to wonder where Kane got his height from because from what she could tell both of his parents were tall.

“Kane, how tall was your father?” she asked curiously.

“Probably a couple of inches taller than you are. He always seemed like a giant to me,” he answered.

“Everybody probably seemed like a giant to you.”

Kane did not argue that; it was not like he had not been short his whole life. He watched as Isabel continued through the album. He pointed out his other family members when they showed up in the pictures, his aunts, uncles, and grandparents. He explained who would probably be difficult when they all met, too.

“Just because they don’t think you’re a gold-digger doesn’t mean they’ll like you,” Kane explained, trying to warn her. He really did not get a vibe from them that they would hate Isabel, but he had not gotten a vibe that they were thrilled about her either. He figured that it was best to expect the worst.

“I’m quite used to people disliking me. I can take care of myself, dearest,” she countered.

“I thought you might want the head’s up.”

“Thanks for that.”

The head’s up turned out to be a somewhat wasted thing. When Kane’s family did show up, as one big group, things went somewhat the way he expected them to, but also it was surprisingly pleasant in a strange way too. His over-critical, noble family said a lot of things and got told off in a lot of different ways, but no one had gotten too nasty with each other. Kane just sat back and watched Isabel and the kids work while keeping an eye on the twins, who was next to him in their stroller.

“You’re just interested in making as much of a mockery of this family as humanly possible, huh?” Kane’s uncle asked while coming to sit down next to the young man. He glanced in the stroller to catch a glimpse of the twins, even though he had seen them already.

“You know it,” Kane replied with a proud grin.

“I will admit, she’s not the crude American we were expecting to meet,” his uncle stated, a smile trying to grace his wrinkling features.

Kane smiled. “She knows how to carry herself with a dignity that I can’t even imagine.”

Isabel had been on her best behavior … in a way. She was her usual self, but she saved the rough swearing and yelling for only those that truly deserved it. She just had her usual elegance and poise that made her seem much more of a noble than Kane could ever pretend to be.

The kids were different, but it was sort of expected from Kane’s offspring. Still, they were telling a lot of people off. They had a strange charm about them, but they were still more rude and weird than anything else. They were excused by most, though. The adults seemed to find them cute, which Kane did not like much because he thought that people saw his children adorable like one would adore a puppy.

“She’s still a bit of work, though,” his uncle said, watching Isabel bark at one of his nieces, who obviously said something to offend her.

“You’re just mad that she’s mine and not yours,” Kane replied with a cocky smile.

His uncle shook his head. “You’re just like your mother.”

Kane only grinned, taking that as a compliment. Despite the foul language going around, Kane eventually picked up on the fact that his family actually liked Isabel and the kids. His grandmother especially liked Isabel when seeing her put Kane in line.

“That’s just what this boy needs, someone that’s not afraid to call him an idiot,” his grandmother remarked, patting Isabel on the back after she whacked Kane for saying something stupid.

“Thanks, Nonna, cuz that’s just what Bella needs, more encouragement to take my head off,” Kane said sarcastically.

“Trust me, you opening your mouth is all the encouragement that I need,” Isabel promised her husband.

He did not doubt her on that. He was happy that Isabel was getting along with her family, as best she could anyway. The kids were getting into fights, but he expected that of them too. The twins were getting some attention, too. Everyone cooed over how cute they were and how much they looked like their father. Of course, everyone wanted to hold them, which the parents allowed, but kept a close eye on the babies.

To make things better, Kane was happy to finally be able to share his home with his immediate family. The children had a good time charging through the place. They were thankfully careful not to break anything. And he and Isabel got to visit his old room again for the first time since their first time.

“Looks just how I remember it, which isn’t a good thing,” Isabel remarked, glancing around the place to see all of the magazines and things on the floor. She would have thought that the cleaning service she made sure came through would have picked them up, but apparently, they just made sure spiders had not turned the room into one giant cobweb.

Kane laughed sheepishly. “Well, the clothes aren’t there anymore.”

“This is true, but that is more than likely because I made sure a service comes in here every couple of months. You’d just let the place fester if given the chance.”

He laughed again and grinned at her. “So, how do you like my family?”

“Well, they’re snobbish, pretentious, and full of themselves, but they’re not as annoying as I thought they would be,” she answered honestly.

“You sound almost like you like them,” he teased, poking her in the side.

Isabel denied the charges, of course. Still, she did not object when Kane suggested that they stay for a couple of weeks. His family came by while they were around, getting to know them better. The more his two families saw each other, the less serious fighting occurred. He was happy about that, as Isabel suspected he would be, which was why she had tried her best to get along with his family. By the end of their visit, Kane was being threatened by his grandmother about how he better never leave his wife or he would be disowned from the Go family. It got a good laugh out of him.

“As if I would ever leave my Bella,” he commented to himself. He was sure that the world would sooner come to an end than he would leave his love.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: superpowers anyone? How about a trip to the hospital on the side?


	22. It came from the sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, and Wen; Disney does. I do own Kane, Isabel, Isabella, and Victoria.

21: It came from the sky

Things continued on normally for the Go family. The twins were proving to be more of a handful than the others had been when going from babies to toddlers, but no one really seemed to mind. If the twins were not pushing each other to do insane things, they were out trying to do insane things with their older siblings anyway.

The twins, at the tender ages of two, tried to be “superheroes” with their older siblings most of all. It seemed like the “in” thing with the family, Isabel noted. It tickled her that they all swore they were going to use their martial arts to fight crime and save the world. At least it made them all the more eager to learn martial arts.

Kane fed their insanity, which Isabel supposed was his job … or so he seemed to think. It tended to get him into trouble more often than not. Such as when they were on vacation at his beach house and he thought it would be a great idea to give the kids a “treasure map.” He just wanted to give Isabel a moment of peace; of course, he did not mind bugging out with the kids.

The treasure map idea turned out to be quite the disaster. The kids wondered into a cave almost a mile from the house and ended up trapped in there as the tide was coming in. Thankfully, Isabel forced Kane to go get them before they drowned; he had been planning to just let them wander back on their own, thinking they were all right by themselves.

Kane caught quite the beating when he got back to the beach house … yet, he really did not learn his lesson. Isabel doubted that he ever learned his lesson from anything. He continued doing crazy things with the kids, sending them on wild goose-chases and things like that. Fortunately for him, those did not backfire in the same way that the treasure map had.

Sometimes, Isabel considered part of Kane’s charm was his hardheadedness. After all, it was due to his stubborn nature that they were still together. Still, his thicker skull sometimes pissed her off quite a bit, too. 

-8-8-8-8-

“Kane, what the fuck have I told you about taking the twins up in that godforsaken tree house!” Isabel screamed at her husband, who was in the backyard with the kids.

Kane was halfway up the newly constructed tree house in the yard near the dreaded hedges. He had built it with the kids; the twins even helped by throwing things at everyone else. It was a decent looking thing for something built by a lovingly described half-wit and five maniacs that were under the age of ten. Isabel was still waiting for it to collapse in a heavy breeze. 

“It’s cool, Bella! They need to get up to HQ with the rest of the team,” Kane replied, Wes in one hand and Wen on his shoulders. If they fell from where they were currently, he was certain that the twins would be seriously, if not gravely injured. 

“Fuck that! Get my babies back on the ground!” Isabel commanded. 

Kane ignored her, as he typically did when she was hollering at him to get out of the tree with the twins. He climbed up there anyway and left the pair with their older siblings as usual. They were just as much part of the superhero team as Hego, Shego, and the newly named Mego; Sheshona came up with that name for her little brother because he was always saying “me this” and “me that.” Hadrian approved the name as soon as Sheshona uttered it, even though he somehow twisted it into making it seem like he came up with it. As team leader, he felt like all good ideas should be his ideas; she was only the sidekick, after all. 

“Kane, I’m going to fuck you up when you get back down here!” Isabel promised him. 

“You see the trouble that Daddy has to go through for your team?” Kane said to all of the kids as he prepared to climb down. 

“Mommy, stop yelling at Daddy! We’ll watch Wes and Wen carefully!” Sheshona vowed, poking her head out of one of the three windows in the tree house.

“I don’t give a fuck how well they’re watched! They don’t need to be up there until they’re old enough to climb on their own!” Isabel barked.

“Blah, blah, blah,” Sheshona mocked her mother.

“Shona,” Kane said in the sternest voice that he could with the kids. It was about as threatening as a kitten with a ball of yarn.

“I’m Shego here!” Sheshona corrected her father in a way that showed she was very much her mother’s child … even though she liked to act like she was not and would probably get offended if she were told such a thing.

“Fine, Shego,” he sighed the name as if he was exhausted.

Sheshona only rolled her eyes; _Daddy can be such a clown sometimes_ , she thought. Of course, that did not make her love the guy any less. Hell, she was still claiming him as hers in front of her mother.

Kane left the kids to play and went to take his beating from his wife. He barely got into the house before she was slapping him in the head for leaving the twins up in the tree house after being told not to on several occasions. This was one of the few instances that she did not “only get one.” There was only one way to get her mind off of pummeling him over the kids.

Kane reached out and grabbed for the plushest thing he could get his hand on, groping his wife’s breast. Isabel squeaked in surprise and backed away from his troublesome hands. She knocked him one last one before he came in for more of something totally different. The next thing Isabel knew was she was being pressed against the wall, his mouth on hers and his hands doing rather indecent things to her chest.

“Kane, you perv,” Isabel whispered as he pulled away from her slightly, just to gather in a little air.

“I go with what works,” he remarked with a smile.

“You do know the kids can see us, don’t you?”

Kane wondered if she was right. He glanced to the side to see that, yes, they were in the perfect place for their children to get an eyeful. Luckily, the kids were having too much fun bugging out in their clubhouse and were not focused on what was happening in the house.

“You know, a lot of the time, I don’t think I thought this tribe thing completely out,” he commented with a chuckle.

“You can’t take them back now. Also, you better cut that with my babies. You know I don’t like them going up there. They hang out of the windows, trying to climb out for crying out loud,” she pointed out.

Kane could not argue that point. Hell, he had actually accidentally caught one of them not too long ago when they were hanging out of the window and it was not “caught” as in busted. Wes had fallen out of the tree house and Kane happened to be walking by. The boy fell into his arms. Hadrian and Sheshona seemed to comprehend how serious it was for the baby to fell as they were screaming from the tree house window about how their baby brother might have died.

“Hay and Shona will watch them,” he decided to counter.

“You say that now, but they were up there when Wes tried to fly,” she pointed out.

“Dammit, stop trying to corner me with logic, Bella!” he complained, knowing that he was beat now.

Kane decided to win the only way that he could: with lechery! He went in for another kissing and groping session; his plan was to distract her just enough for her to forget what they were going on about. He did just about everything possible, short of actually stripping Isabel and taking her right there in their den. When he pulled away, he felt pretty satisfied.

“That was nice and all, but go get my babies out of that fucking tree, right now,” Isabel commanded in a dead serious tone.

“Dammit,” he muttered.

“Go get them or this is about all the action you’ll get for a while,” she informed him.

And that was proper motivation for Kane. He moved away from Isabel to go back into the backyard. She watched him and frowned.

“And stop moving like you’re a slug! You walk faster than that when I call you for dinner!” Isabel stated.

Kane picked up the pace, going from slow motion to a crawl in speed now. Isabel was tempted to throw something at him, but she was not standing near anything she thought worth shattering on his hard head. She decided to leave him be since he was at least going to retrieve the babies. It was time for her to make lunch anyway.

Kane had his hands in his pockets by the time he made it to the tree that the “fort” was in. He removed his hands to climb up the wooden planks on the tree’s truck, which was the ladder entrance; the kids slid down a rope to get down and then came in crying about rope burns all the time. Things like that always got Isabel to thinking just how much their kids were like Kane: goofy.

He slowly began his ascent into the tree house, like he had done hundreds of time since building the thing. The kids were laughing loudly, and plotting since they knew he was coming up. He braced himself for what he knew was coming next.

“Intruder alert!” the kids cried out and started pelting him with water balloons. _Damn their grandmother for teaching them how to make these damn things!_

Kane put one hand up to block the assault, which was not much of a defense. In the back of his mind, over the hooping and howling from the kids, over the splashing of water, and over the general noise of the day, he thought that he heard whistling. Odd thing was that he swore they said you never hear the one that gets you.

Isabel heard what happened all too well. There was a huge explosion in the backyard as something fell out of the sky …

… and crashed right into the tree house.

Isabel’s heart stopped beating in her chest and instead leaped into her throat as she watched the tree practically disintegrate. Her lungs quit altogether, which prevented her from screaming in disbelief over what she just witnessed. She stood there in completely and utter shock, not even noticing the shockwave destroyed the kitchen windows, damaged the back of the house, and put her in danger as she was simply standing there.

Glass sliced into Isabel’s face and through her clothing like shrapnel, but she did not seem to notice. Wood splinters and other items followed the glass. She did not move, did not wince as she was cut. Her eyes stayed glued on the crater in the backyard and then her brain turned back on.

Isabel rushed out into the backyard, right to the smoking hole that was once her children’s play area. The backyard was charred, completely black as was the hole in the yard. Isabel did not see any of that; all she could focus on was one thought that operated her body: her family.

Isabel peered into the hole almost like a zombie. Her husband and children lay inside, thrown against the wall of crater. They were all unconscious, but she could not tell if they were seriously injured. She wasted no time leaping into the hole to check on everyone, going to the babies first.

The twins were lying on their backs not too far from Kane. Their bodies appeared to be smoking, but it was hard to tell since everything was so dark. She wasted no time lifting her babies up, noting that they were breathing. She then went to check on the other children, seeing that they were breathing. It was still hard to tell if they were bleeding of not because everything was painted the color of coal.

She checked on Kane last because she knew that he would have wanted things that way. He was breathing, too. Now that she was certain everyone was alive, Isabel rushed into the house and called for an ambulance. By the time that the ambulance arrived, Isabel was shocked that Kane was conscious.

“Did I just get hit by a fucking rainbow?” Kane wondered aloud while being loaded into the ambulance. He looked utterly perplexed because he was fairly certain that he was just bombed by a rainbow.

“Don’t try to talk, dearest. Something fell out of the sky into our yard, on you,” Isabel informed him, sounding calm because she thought that yelling at him when he was obviously dazed would not help.

“A fucking rainbow!” he replied. _A fucking rainbow hit me and the kids!_ He then gasped. _The kids!_ “Are they all right?” he demanded, glaring at the medic as he was about to shut the door. The man wisely left the door open.

“They’re all unconscious, but they’re not hurt too much. Now, stop talking and get your silly ass to the hospital before I kick your ass!” Isabel ordered in a fury. It would seem that her first tactic did not work, which was why she switched.

Her naked anger let Kane know how worried she honestly was and he did lie back while the medic closed the door that time. Kane did not say anything during the ride, starting to realize how insane he must have sounded when claiming that a rainbow had hit them. Only thing was that he was certain that they were hit with a rainbow. How that was, he had no clue.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel paced the hospital hallway, ignorant of the fact that she appeared to need medical attention. The doctors had offered, but she pushed them away, wanting them to take care of her husband and children of course. A couple of the doctors were insistent to the point of annoyance and she exploded on them, mostly due to bothersome questions if she was hit directly by the same thing as her family.

“Of course I wasn’t hit! I’m able to walk around!” Isabel growled.

All she was worried about was her family. _What if I lost them all?_ The thought itself seized her heart and refused to release the organ. It was a strangling feeling that would have put her on her knees if she allowed it. She was fairly certain that would fall into a catatonic state and never wake up, ending up much worse than when she lost their son. Much worse.

She was so distressed that she did not even think to call her mother or sister and tell them about the accident. She just wanted to know that her children and husband were fine before anything else could enter her mind. They were the only things she could possibly think about.

She felt the urge to go in six different directions at once; one direction for each injured family member. They were all in different rooms, still unconscious and suffering from injuries that Isabel did not know about in complete detail, but she knew they were there. And then, something happened that got her to stop worrying and be suspicious.

Isabel noted that there were people hovering around the hospital area near her, people in suits. She craned an eyebrow and considered that they might be there for someone, but there were quite a few of them and they did not seem like concerned hospital visitors. She decided to investigate because her suspicious nature was eating at her like a starved dog on a steak. It was enough for her brain to start working on more than one thought.

Isabel crept by a few of the men, pretending to go for water. They were speaking quietly to themselves about some special rock that came out of the sky; she figured they meant whatever it was that hit her family. So, it was a rock from space and it seemed like it was a secret if their whispering could be taken for anything aside for the fact that they were in a hospital.

From then on, Isabel did her pacing near the suited-men. She went from room to room that contained her family, checking on them while gathering information. The more that she found out, the less she liked. The suited fellows did not seem to think anything of her, just a concerned mother and wife that was trying to be close to her family.

Isabel played the grieving parent well while putting together the pieces that she was gathering from the conversations. They were standing around waiting for the doctors to report on her family. Apparently, the rock that hit them was no ordinary piece of space debris. She learned that some agency was actually on its way to the house to collect the rock while these agents were to collect the family.

Well, it would be a very cold day in Hell when Isabel allowed that to happen, so it was time to make some phone calls. She eased her way over to a pay phone and made sure to speak in a low voice. She noted a couple of the suited men easing toward her, so she made sure to pretend to be sobbing into the phone about the accident. She dropped enough hints for her mother to know to come to the hospital while Victoria knew to check on the house to see what was going on around there.

Isabel made a couple of other calls, having no problem relying the message that she wanted to while making the calls sound like normal hospital reports. She then went back to pacing and peeking in on her husband and offspring. With the exception of Kane, they were all still unconscious, but she could not tell what the doctors seemed to be doing to them.

“Iz,” Isabella said as she marched down the corridor. She silently noted the men that Isabel managed to tell her about; thank the heavens they spoke other languages. Isabel had spoken to her and Victoria in mostly Korean, pretending that they did not speak good English.

“Mommy,” Isabel greeted her.

They exchanged a concerned embrace while Isabel whispered to her mother that more people arrived shortly after she got off of the phone, so she was not sure if speaking Korean would work. Isabella nodded and they pulled away before the hug got awkwardly long. Isabella then began to speak Korean and Isabel carefully scanned the new arrivals to see if there was a spark of comprehension. She concluded that there was; the new people were pretending to be much too disinterested in what was going on. She knew from experience that most people hated hearing a foreign language spoken around them and would glare every now and then at the speakers.

“It’s no good. I haven’t gotten word on their conditions yet,” Isabel said, the former half of her statement actually more important than the latter. The former told her mother that it was not good speaking Korean now.

The pair switched up, speaking in both Korean and English instead of just going to a third language as they thought that would be too suspicious. They merely spoke in a code while trying to work things out. They compared noted on the number of men, the escape routes, and possible escapes where they would not attract too much attention to themselves.

They easily decided on what to do and then put the plan into affect. Isabella suddenly started shouting loudly in Korean, screaming about seeing her grandchildren to make sure they were not dead. Isabel tried to hold her back and tried to calm her down. Isabella shoved her daughter out of the way and went into the first room, seeing Hadrian lying unconscious and breathing. He was not being operated on, but there were doctors drawing his blood and injecting him with something.

Isabella continued screaming and advanced in the room until four nurses were able to escort the “crazy Korean lady” out of the room. Isabella merely went to the next room where she saw Sheshona lying down, coughing while her skin built up a sweat. It looked as if she was paler than usual, but the doctors did not seem to be doing anything for her beyond taking her blood and injecting. Isabella was led out of that room just like the first. She was only able to pull off the “screaming, distraught grandmother” routine one last time to see what was happening with Wen and the baby did not look too well if his convulsions meant anything, yet the doctors did not seem to be doing much for him either.

“This can be done with the kids, but we’ll either need another hand for Kane or to leave him,” Isabella muttered to herself as she returned to her daughter. One look at Isabel let her know there was no way in Hell that they would be leaving Kane.

“So?” Isabel asked, speaking through her teeth that time.

Isabella glanced at her daughter and tilted her head. Isabel nodded and looked over to the room that Kane was in. A strange glint then appeared in her eyes.

“Izzie …” Isabella said because she was not sure what was going through her eldest child’s mind right now and that was rather dangerous considering what they needed to do.

Isabel held up her hand and marched off, going right to Kane’s room. She barged in, causing the doctors to jump. They turned their eyes to her and informed her that she was not supposed to be in there.

“Bella, thank you! Tell these assholes I’m fine and they can stop poking me with needles!” Kane complained. He actually felt rather good, especially considering he was blown up.

Isabel broke out the one language that she and Kane had in common besides English. She told him in French that they needed to leave right now with the kids and he really needed to follow her and her mother. Kane did not ask any questions and nodded to show he understood; he did wonder what was going on.

Nurses started to take Isabel out when Kane climbed out of bed, shoving the doctors away from him, surprising them and himself with his strength. Isabel broke away from the doctors and emerged from the room with Kane behind her. Isabella arched an eyebrow, but nodded her approval that Kane was up and about despite his accident. And now it was time for a-not-too-subtle escape.

They each took a room, marched in like everything was fine and picked up a Go child. When confronted by the doctors, they demanded to know what right the doctors had to tell them what to do with their own children/grandchildren. The doctors seemed to get the hint that taking on the parents and grandmother would be a bad idea, so even when they had to go into the last two rooms after strong-arming the first three, no one stopped them.

Security was called, but the trio was already making their way out of the hospital by then, following Isabella, who was carrying the twins. They did not even get a chance to get a good look at the children because they were concerned with getting out of the place than anything else.

“Are we being followed by more than hospital security?” Kane inquired, noticing all of the movement behind and around them.

“It would seem that you guys weren’t hit by any regular rainbow, dearest. I think a governmental agency has taken a quick interest in you, the kids, and our backyard,” Isabel explained.

“Fuck,” was all Kane was able to get out.

The mother and daughter agreed. They continued on the planned route, walking at a steady pace, trying not to attract too much attention to themselves aside from the fan club that they already had. They were banking on the fact that the agents would not attack them in a public area with so many witnesses.

“We’re going to need a distraction to make it to the car,” Isabella realized. She could see that the agents were starting to flank them.

“Leave that to me,” Kane declared.

Kane passed Matteo to Isabel, not realizing that the boy seemed littler and smaller than usual. The next thing Isabel and Isabella realized, Kane as gone, almost as if he vanished. And then a woman screamed loudly; somehow they knew that was Kane’s doing. A loud slap echoed through the hall while a crowd began to gather around the highly offended woman, who was hollering about sexual harassment. Kane was not the one being slapped, surprisingly enough. He was suddenly back with his wife and family.

“Kane, how the fuck did you do that?” Isabel inquired, knowing that the disturbance was his doing.

“I honestly don’t know, but I feel a little funny,” he replied while taking Matteo back.

“You look it, too. Why are your eyes changing color?” Isabel more wondered aloud than anything else. The violet of his eyes was mixing with yellow. _What the hell is going on?_

“Ask stupid ass questions once we’re in the fucking car,” Isabella huffed.

Thanks to Kane’s little show, they were able to make it outside and piled into a car that was waiting. Kane was a bit confused by things as a young man that was behind the wheel peeled off, but managed to keep from drawing too much attention to them. Isabel and Isabella looked back to see that they were being followed.

“Fuck. This shit is obviously serious. Whatever the fuck that was that hit you guys must’ve been something vicious,” Isabella commented.

“What’re we gonna do?” Kane asked.

“Don’t worry about it. The Han family has a lot of practice at avoiding the law and other nefarious types. Leave everything to us,” Isabella answered in a very calm tone as if she had said something totally normal.

“So, Iz, what is this shit you’ve gotten into, anyway?” the driver inquired with a teasing smirk on his face.

“Fuck you, Ramses. You make it seem like this shit is my fault,” Isabel replied.

“It ain’t even like that, so don’t get rude before I take your ass to Grandma’s house to hide out,” the driver, Ramses, threatened them.

Isabel rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. “Kane, that’s my bigheaded cousin Ramses. He’s going to get us some place safe,” she explained to her somewhat confused husband.

Kane only nodded. The car ride was insane; somewhat reflective of the driver from what the passengers could tell. However, Ramses did eventually lose everyone that was following him. Kane could not help wondering what this cousin did for a living or what sort of family he actually married into considering how Isabel and Isabella did not seem too freaked out about what was going on.

Isabel took the time in the car to inspect the children. She thought it was a bit odd that for small bodies that were in a huge explosion, they had very little in the way of evidence of an accident. They had a few cuts and bruises, but nothing serious. She was a bit worried because the twins were shivering in her arms. Their skin felt cold and clammy; she wondered if the others were the same.

“Mommy, how are Shona and Hadrian doing?” Isabel inquired.

“They’re burning up with fever. We’re going to have to get a doctor to look at them,” Isabella reported.

Isabel only nodded, rather methodically, as if she had to think to do it. Kane could not believe how calm both his Bella and her mother were over the whole thing. He wanted to panic a bit, having never been chased by a mysterious agency in his life after being hit with a rainbow, but then again, he doubted many people had experienced such a thing. It was like being in a movie, he thought.

“Okay, so when we get to the spot, I’ll get to arranging for a better location,” Ramses said out of the blue.

“I’ll get the doctor and check on Vic,” Isabella said.

“I’ll look into what this is all about,” Isabel said.

“What should I do?” Kane inquired.

“You did your part by getting up and grabbing Matteo,” Isabel assured her husband.

“But, you’re all doing things,” he pointed out. Even Ramses was doing something and things really had nothing to do with him.

“Yeah, we weren’t hit by some strange meteor from space and then in the hospital. Just cooperate with the doctor when she comes, no matter how much of a smartass she happens to be,” Isabel replied.

Kane nodded because he did not know what else to do. They arrived at the “safe house” not too long afterwards. It was a basement apartment, but well furnished and lavish. The kids were all put in the single bedroom, left on the bed to sleep. Isabel told Kane that it was all right for him to treat the place like home and then she started making calls.

Kane was lost in what to do. Ramses left the apartment to go make his own calls and Isabella did the same thing. Kane started to realize that he was tired and sat down on the sofa, hoping to catch his breath. He was sleeping almost as soon as his butt hit the cushion.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane woke up to low voices and someone that he did not know hovering over him. It would have been somewhat unpleasant, but the someone had enough cleavage in his face for him to not mind. He quickly found out that Isabel was nearby because she pinched him when she noticed where his eyes were.

“Ow! I wasn’t even looking!” Kane lied while trying to avert his gaze from the perk mounds right in front of him.

“Don’t make me snatch your eyes out of your head,” Isabel huffed, standing next to him and the doctor.

“Don’t mind little Izzie. She was quite concerned about you when you were out,” the doctor commented in an almost soft tone while laughing.

“I was not! Don’t lie to the little perv, Jo,” Isabel snorted, even though she did not move from where she was, which was next to Kane and allowing him to rest against her.

“How are the kids?” Kane asked while trying to ignore the fact that a hot woman was touching his chest. To hell if she was a doctor or not, he hoped that his Bella did not move to hit him again.

“Jo examined them first. They’re running fevers and like you, they seem to be experiencing some skin problems,” Isabel answered.

“Skin problems?” Kane echoed in a puzzled tone while glancing down at his bare arm. He almost jumped to the ceiling. “Whoa! Why the fuck am I tinted yellow?” he inquired in a baffled tone.

“That is what I would like to know,” the doctor, Jo, muttered to herself. She was certainly seeing a lot of new things in less time than it took to cook dinner, which was what she was doing when her cousin called her.

“The kids have odd tints to them, too. Their hair color changed, except for the twins. But then again, the twins’ eyes have changed. Jo has been trying to figure things out, but she needs better equipment,” Isabel reported.

“As far as I can tell, you’re not too bad off, but I would prefer to run blood tests and things of that nature. So, I’ll be traveling with you lot to Brazil,” Jo announced, which prompted Isabel to roll her eyes, but she did not say anything in objection to that plan.

“When and why are we going to Brazil?” Kane asked with his eyes focused on his wife. He was looking at the right person for that information.

“Kane, apparently, what hit you and the kids was some kind of meteor. No one thought too much of it until it cracked the atmosphere and then somehow quite a few agencies realized that it was no ordinary space rock. The elements of the meteor seemed to be a special blend that turns space radiation into some sort of energy that the agencies were hoping to manipulate. They didn’t plan on it crashing into our backyard, though. Vic already secured the rock and we have people that can look at it. Jo has been examining you while trying to figure things out from the minimal reports I’ve been receiving from various people,” Isabel explained, as plainly as she could.

“Have you figured anything out?” Kane inquired, eyes now on the doctor.

“Well, you’re not dead, that I can be certain of,” Jo remarked with a forced smile.

“Good to know,” he muttered sarcastically. Things were not looking good in his opinion if that was the best that a professional doctor could come up with.

“I can only do so much in a basement apartment with little clue as to what I’m looking for. I have to admit, I don’t like the sound of your heartbeat, but you seem to be functioning well with it. I can do a better job once we make it to Brazil,” Jo replied.

“When are we leaving?” Kane asked, going back to Isabel.

“Immediately. A lot of people want you and the kids and that rock and I don’t think it’s because you’re all so lovable and have nice personalities. Whatever this thing was and whatever it did to you, they’re interested in studying. I don’t want to find out how deeply the studying would go,” Isabel replied.

Kane nodded to show that he understood. “How long will we be doing this?”

“Until we can figure something out,” Isabel answered.

“Don’t worry, Kane. We might not seem it, but the Han family is far from stupid and very resourceful,” Jo assured him.

“Especially when it comes to the shadowy part of life,” Isabel added on with a creepy smile. Kane could only nod, feeling in his skin that they knew what they were doing.

And they really did.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: The family’s on the run. Kane has to come to grips with his powers while the kids have fun practicing.


	23. Freak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, and Wen; Disney owns them. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Jo.

22: Freak

Kane was lying in his back, staring at his hand. The room was dark. The sun was down and there was no moon out, so nothing but night noises were coming through the little window in the room. He should have been sleeping, like his wife, who was pressed up against him in the usual way, even though the situation that they were in was quite unusual. The only reason he had not outwardly freaked out was because Isabel was taking things so well. He glanced down at her and wondered how she could be taking things so well while he just wanted to panic in every way that he could think of.

He could not figure out how Isabel could press herself against him without a care in the world. She was not afraid to touch him. It did not even seem to cross her mind that he was different. _Very different_. 

Ever since being hit by that meteor and coming to Brazil to be examined by Isabel’s cousin and other scientists, he was learning how different he was now. The meteor had changed him and the children. The children thought the changes were quite cool, even though Sheshona was a bit pissed at how her skin looked now. Still, what the meteor gave her made up for that in her opinion. Kane was not as excited about the changes as the children, which was understandable considering the fact that he could see beyond the great powers and all.

Yes, the meteor had given them powers. They all got different powers from what they could tell, but the tests that were currently running were starting to gather data proving otherwise a bit. The people studying/helping the family learned that they each got a main power, but since they all came from the same source there was a little blend that seemed to make it into their systems along with their main powers.

They were slowly coming to understand how to control the powers based on “the glow” that they received from the comet that hit them; the kids referred to everything as “the glow” and everyone else had adopted the term. Learning to control their powers was basically all he and the kids had been doing since arriving in Brazil aside from all of the tests. Isabel had been working to keep them a few steps ahead of the agencies that were chasing them.

“Sweetheart,” Isabel muttered, speaking into his shoulder since that was what she was using as a pillow.

“Hmm?” Kane replied.

“Go to sleep, dearest. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow,” she reminded him, as if he could forget that.

Kane sucked his teeth. “Bella …” he whispered.

“Yes?” she replied, opening her eyes to pay him her full attention. She could tell that something was bothering him, but then again, she could guess what it was. He had been tense ever since they got to Brazil and the tests began, but he never wanted to talk about it. She hoped that he was ready to talk now.

“I’m … a freak,” he muttered, his voice coming out so garbled that she barely understood what he said.

Isabel sat up somewhat and looked into her husband’s eyes. Eyes that were now purple mixed with yellow instead of completely violet. Still, that was better than the first few days after the accident where his eyes were totally yellow and the glow around him was enough to blind her.

“You are not a freak, dearest. You had an accident and now you’re physically not the same as before, but mentally and in your soul, you are still you,” she pointed out in a calm tone.

“Do you really not mind that I’m not human anymore?” he inquired in disbelief.

“Well, first of all, there is no proof that you’re not human anymore and even if that were the case, you would still be you. You would still be the man I love. You’re taking this rather hard, sweetheart. You’re no different as a person now than you were before this. Don’t let this bother you,” she sort of pled with him, eyes begging that he understand. Never since the accident had she looked at him and thought that he was not human, not that she would care. He was still Kane, no matter what.

“How can you say that?” he wondered aloud while reaching up to caress her cheek. She did not pull away or flinch, which just amazed him. She stayed, as she always would, and allowed him to touch her despite the fact that his hand had that strange yellow tint to it.

“I can say that because you’re still the same man I married. You’re still thoughtful and caring. You’re still a great father. Your touch is still as splendid and gentle as ever. You’re still a perv,” she stated with a twisted smile. His hand, the one not on her cheek, was gripping a lower part of her anatomy.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop being those things,” he quietly admitted. _Not with the ass she has anyway_ , he mentally added.

“I hope you don’t because those are aspects of who you are. You shouldn’t be depressed over an accident. Take it as a blessing, like the kids,” she remarked with a sweet smile and she leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.

“The kids are crazy, though.” He was actually serious while pointing that out, which would have gotten a laugh out of her if only the whole situation was not serious for him.

“So are you. It’s best for you to take this as the blessing it is.”

“How is being a freak a blessing?” he inquired with a puzzled expression wrinkling his forehead.

“First off, you’re not a freak, so you need to stop saying that. If you believe you’re a freak, then you’re saying the children are freaks too and I know you don’t believe that.”

Kane shook his head. “I don’t think they’re freaks …”

“Good, because they’re not. This is a blessing because you’ve been given powers that can help you protect the kids. Imagine if they were the ones in the tree without you being near by. They would have these powers alone and people would be gunning for them. Now, I am far from modest, but I know that we would have a tough time protecting our children if you did not have powers, too. You are capable of taking care of the kids now with your bare hands,” she explained.

He was silent briefly, taking in her words. “I suppose you’re right.”

“No, sweetheart, I am right. You should know that by now,” she remarked with a smile.

“You … you still love me, even though I have these powers?” he inquired, sounding almost shy.

Isabel craned an eyebrow and looked at him as if he had just asked the dumbest question possible. His eyes begged for an answer, though. She chuckled a bit and leaned down to kiss him tenderly on the lips.

“I will always love you, no matter what happens. You could be hit by a million comets, lose your limbs, or any other number of things and I will always love you. You are a wonderful man and you make me feel wonderful. I’m here for you. I’m here with you. I will always support you. Don’t forget that and, please, don’t think so little of me. After all we’ve been through, after all you’ve put up from me, do you honestly think I would just leave you now because of a minor accident?” she asked incredulously.

“I do worry …”

“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m not going anywhere, not now, not ever. Focus on yourself for once, Kane. You worry about understanding these gifts that you’ve been blessed with and getting better with them in order to make sure our babies don’t end up in some kind of lab or something.”

Kane nodded to show that he understood. Isabel kissed him one more time for good measure and that seemed to relax him. She settled back against him to go to sleep, but she could tell that he was not ready to rest just yet.

“What’s wrong now, dearest?” she inquired patiently.

“I was just wondering how long we’ll have to hide like this,” he replied.

“Not too long. We Hans never run forever. We just need to do some research on the agencies after you and the children and we need to be able to trust the kids to take care of themselves once we do go back to our normal lives.”

Kane nodded once again; it sounded like a good plan, way better than hiding out for the rest of their days. “Then I’ll be sure to get on them about learning how to use their powers.”

“I don’t think they need much more encouragement,” she remarked with a fond smile.

He could not argue on that. The kids had jumped into having superpowers much more eagerly than he did. They were trying their best to figure their powers out while he had been the one that shied away from the new abilities. That certainly changed the next day, though. He went at everything with renewed vigor.

-8-8-8-8-

The Go family was hiding out in the jungle because Isabel knew that it would be tough to find them in the thick rainforest, even if their camp did not somewhat stand out, but not enough to arouse suspicions. The facility was set up to look like a tiny village, which was no small feat considering most of the huts contained scientific equipment that was being used to test Kane and the children. There were plenty of scientists who were willing to brave the jungle to do the testing, not just out of curiosity, but also out of debt or loyalty to the Han family.

Isabel mostly stayed out of the way, knowing there was not much that she could do. She was not a scientist, after all. She would only get in their way if she peered into their business. Besides, the scientists reported any findings to her or to someone in her family; there were a certain number of Hans littering the camp besides her and her cousin Jo.

Isabel actually spent much of her time in the city, gathering information. She had other family members doing the same and trying to come up with ways to counter the strike against them and figure out how to get their lives back in order. It was just going to take a while.

While Isabel was away, Kane and the kids focused on trying to understand their powers. Hadrian took to his the fastest, figuring out how to turn the “glow” on and off. They each had their own color glow, just as they all had their own unique main power.

Hadrian’s glow was deep blue, almost an indigo. His eyes and hair color had changed to that color also, but the tone did seem to be fading from his skin. His skin had a shade of blue to it, as they all had a tine of their glow on their skin, but his seemed to be going away the more and more that he practiced controlling the glow. He was quite glad to lose the strange tan, as he had come to think of it.

Sheshona was not so lucky with her skin. Although she was practicing her green—more of a grass green—glow just as much as Hadrian, her skin did not seem to recover like his. She was paler than ever with a slightly jade tint to her. Her eye color was a deeper green, but seemed to be going back to normal. Her hair had changed to a lush, deep green too.

The older siblings were best at controlling their new talents. Hadrian was quite glad to have super-strength, thinking that it was probably the best ability out of the lot. Of course, Sheshona would argue that her plasma powers were way better than his. It did not get a chance to lead to fighting because no one would allow them to fight like they used to.

Matteo was having trouble with his powers and understanding why the hell he was so purple-ish lately. He mostly moped while his older siblings trained, even though he was aware that he had powers that he could play around with. Unfortunately, he could not control his powers as easily as his older siblings, which was really the reason that he was moping. The twins, being only two at the time, had no clue what was going on, but did figure out how to make a hell of a lot more playmates when everyone else seemed too busy. They did not seem to care about how red they were looking lately either.

Kane was done with pouting, so he was looking to train. He decided to ask the best two out there that could explain themselves, Hadrian and Sheshona, about what they knew in regards to their glows. He joined them in the clearing by the edge of the camp, which was set up just for them to train in.

“Okay, guys, explain to Daddy how to use this glow thing,” Kane requested with a smile.

“No problem, Daddy! I can tell you since the green glow is best,” Sheshona declared.

“What?! The blue glow is best and you know it!” Hadrian argued.

“Well, guys, I don’t think it matters right now since I’m working with the yellow glow,” he reminded them.

The pair nodded in agreement. They started to explain to him as best they could how to use and control the glow. They sort of reminded him of Isabel as they went through their explanations, mostly because he could not totally understand what they meant. He supposed that was why he was never a good martial arts student.

“Look, Daddy, it’s kinda like breathing. You just do it,” Sheshona said after noting that their explanation was going way over their father’s head.

“It’s like breathing?” Kane echoed while scrunching up his face. See, stuff like that was not helping and just made them sound like Isabel.

“Mommy made us do a whole bunch of meditating and mental work before we started, so maybe you should do that,” Hadrian suggested.

Kane nodded. _Isabel helped the kids in the beginning?_ He did not know that, but then again, he did spend most of the time lamenting rather than seeing what was going on. He decided to take their advice and go meditate. He did wonder how the hell Isabel could get their hyper elder children to sit down long enough to meditate.

Sheshona and Hadrian went back to what they were doing while Kane sat off to the side with his legs folded under him and his eyes closed. Hadrian was working on trying to limit his glow; he could make it come out full force, which he knew was dangerous, so now he was trying to figure out how to bring it out in levels. Sheshona was trying to figure out the same thing.

They were allowed their morning exercises before they had to go get tested. Of course, the kids were annoyed with all of the testing, mostly because they had to sit still for it, _and_ it was like visiting the doctor every day without promises of a lollipop at the end. Hearing that it was for their own good did not help either.

“So, any new findings?” Kane asked curiously while Jo gave him a routine physical.

“After looking things over, we found out that you guys don’t all have just one unique power,” Jo reported.

“What do you mean?”

“The comet itself was one rock with separate elements in it. It seems that you all each got a huge piece of separate elements, but also bits of the whole rock that blended a little on impact. So, you guys do have one major power, which are very cool when you stop and think about it, but you also have some of the other powers blended in with you, just not enough to change your glow. But, as we find out, you all have a little super strength, although that is Hadrian’s main area. Some have it more than others, so I’d be careful the next time you let one of them hit you. Now, I find it a bit funny that the thing you all seemed to have inherited from Sheshona’s bit of the comet is the electric impulses fired from the brain between the nerves, which she manipulates to make her plasma. The twins can use it for cell manipulation, which allows them to heal more rapidly through cell growth. Your healing on the other hand is due to super speed—” she was cut off at that point.

“Wait, I have a super healing ability?” he inquired with an eyebrow arched from his interest.

“Yes, but the twins have a better system as they can manipulate their cells into actually growing back limbs, like when they make copies of themselves and things like that. They probably won’t be doing anything that advanced for a few years, though. You’ve got the ability to heal wounds quickly, but I don’t think you’ll be capable of growing back a limb. Sheshona and Hadrian seem to have a similar system to yours. Matteo might be capable of something more like the twins because of cell manipulations. It’s all totally new to us, so we’re not entirely sure how it works,” she explained.

Kane nodded. “You’re all doing good work …” he said in a humble tone.

“Hey, we’re family, kiddo. Hans help out Hans, even if their last name is now Go. We’ll take care of the science and you should take care of learning how your powers work. Also, try to get out of this funk you’re in so that Isabel doesn’t have to babysit you anymore,” Jo said, which kind of threw him off.

“Babysitting me? Did she say that?” he asked curiously.

“No. I get the feeling she would never say that about you. I also get the feeling that she’s sticking close to you because you need babysitting right now. She’s frustrated, too, you know.”

“She is?” he asked in disbelief. She had been hiding it well if that was the case, he thought.

“Yes, she’s frustrated. There are all sorts of nefarious characters after you and the kids. If they were to storm this place right now, she wouldn’t be able to do anything useful and she knows that. She can’t really do anything useful now. Okay, she taught the kids the basics in how they should try to control their powers, but she can’t go beyond that. She can’t help with the science or the physicals or anything.”

“She’s gathering information.”

Jo smiled, almost looking at Kane as if he was retarded child that just did something adorable. “She could get information from anywhere. This is seriously the least that she could do and she knows that. It’s upsetting to her.”

“I’ll bet …” he mumbled.

“So, get your act together, so she can go try to do something more useful.”

“Like what?” he asked curiously.

“Well, firstly, get some training that would better suit this situation. You let her go off for a few weeks and she’ll come back capable of taking on an agency or two on her own.”

“Seriously?” he asked in disbelief.

“Isabel is a motivated woman right now. You and the kids are her life. She knows where to get what she needs, but she has to feel comfortable with being able to leave you for a little while to set things up and get things started. Besides, Kane, what the hell do you have to be so mopey about anyway? You have superpowers, a lovely family, and hot wife that doesn’t give a damn that you got hit by a fucking comet. What the fuck is the problem?” Jo inquired quite seriously.

Kane thought about it for a long moment for no real reason. After all, he actually agreed with her. There really was nothing for him to be so down and out over. Okay, yes, he got hit by a comet and, yes, he was physically changed, but like Isabel told him, that did not change who he was. So, after a few seconds, he started to nod slowly, as if his head was on a loose string. 

“If you agree, then start acting like it. You’re not cursed, after all,” Jo pointed out.

“You’re absolutely right. So, start telling me more about this super speed stuff. Can I mess with molecules and blow things up like the Flash?” he asked with a giant grin.

Jo paused to massage her temples. Well, at least she now knew where the kids got their superhero fetish. Like Kane, the first thing the kids did after learning about their powers were compare them to comic book heroes, many of whom Jo had never heard of. Most of the other scientists and doctors had never heard of them either.

-8-8-8-8-

Isabel returned to the camp rather late into the evening, but did manage to catch having dinner with her family. She grabbed up Wes before sitting down at the small table with the sub-par excuse for a meal. There was not much in the way of cooking at the camp, so they made due with a lot of canned goods and things that could be roasted over an open fire.

“So, how was everyone’s training today?” Isabel asked curiously before playfully nipping her son’s chubby cheek. Wes giggled as did Wen as Isabel’s hand came out of nowhere to tickle his chin.

“Stupid,” Hadrian and Sheshona huffed.

“Why?” Isabel asked curiously.

“Still can’t figure out how to control the glow enough to touch something when I have it on. I keep breaking stuff,” Hadrian explained.

“I can’t turn it on without burning everything around me,” Sheshona pouted.

Isabel offered them an apologetic look for their woes, but nothing further than that because she could not help. She did not understand the glow and did not know what the kids felt when using their powers, so she could not really guide them because she had no experience with it. She hoped that Kane would quickly take to his powers and aid them, especially since they needed to get out of the “destroy everything they touched” phrase with their powers soon.

“What about you, dearest?” Isabel asked her husband.

“Well, I’ve got a lot to catch up on, but I’m working on it. Did you find anything out in your search for information?” Kane countered.

“We might have to move soon. We can’t stay in one place too long and we’ve already been here a couple of months. There’s a lot of heat on us. Too many interested parties, not just one agency now,” she pointed out.

He nodded. “Where to next?” he asked, figuring that she had a place in mind already.

“There are a few places. I’m thinking on the order. There are some places I think we should go after you all get the hang of your powers.”

“Why?” he asked curiously.

“More training. Just to be on the safe side, for all of us,” she informed him.

Kane nodded; he agreed with her now. The family then had a rather quiet dinner with some outbursts from the children, but that was expected. There was more practicing done after dinner, but not for too long as far as the kids were concerned. Isabel took them to get cleaned off and put them to bed. When she was done with that task, Kane was still concentrating on training himself.

“Dearest, come to bed,” she beckoned him, standing near the path that led back to their camp. He was sitting over to her right, near a tree.

“I’m trying to figure this out,” he replied.

“You’re not going to get it all in one night.”

He was silent for a second. “I’m getting it faster than I thought I would.” He looked down at his hands.

“Then you can come to bed, seeing as how you made more progress than planned,” she pointed out.

He could not argue that logic, and even if he could, her order was _far_ more appealing. He stood up and went off to bed with his wife. The next day, he went back to practicing with the kids while Isabel focused on getting them to their next location before the camp was discovered. She had to speak with her cousin Jo and the other people involved to find out what they wanted to do.

“I don’t want to keep you all from your lives any longer than I have,” Isabel said to the group.

“You’re not keeping us, little Izzie. We find this utterly fascinating and we do want to help,” Jo pointed out.

“Yes, but you do have a husband to get back to,” Isabel countered.

“I’ll fly his little ass to our next destination. Lord knows I need to get his ass away from that computer anyway,” the older Han remarked.

“I don’t know if the next place we go will be able to have a setup like this. I don’t know if we’ll be able to support so many people either. So, if any of you want to go home, feel free. Take whatever data with you that you want. I will keep in contact with you to keep up with what’s going on,” Isabel explained.

The small speech was met with nods. The camp was cleared away over the next couple of days, which was done just in time. Isabel led her family to another location; a location that Kane suspected was to help her as much as it was to help them. It was a secluded place on a mountain. Many of the scientists and things that were with them in Brazil were flying in after them to stay, too. Kane did not even bother to ask where they were and he could not guess either considering the few inhabitants of their new home; there were less than thirty people there.

The place looked like it was an abandoned temple, but Kane could not place the religion. The people there were all shapes, sizes, and colors. Surprisingly enough, almost half of them were related to Isabel. He would never know that from looking at them, but he was starting to understand that her family was more international than the United Nations.

“Isabel, I was hoping you’d visit me once in this life time,” a middle-aged woman commented with a very devilish smirk while coming to greet the family at the gate. She was an Asian looking woman, but with close to chocolate skin. Her jet black hair was cut short and combed back.

“Well, you can help me out, Auntie,” Isabel replied.

“I try my best. But, has your mother okayed this little trip? I wouldn’t want the big little Izzie breathing down my throat for tampering with her goods,” the woman remarked, laughing at her own comment.

“I make my own decisions about my training now, thank you very much. So, like I said, I need your help and I might need it for a while.”

“Well, Izzie, my home is your home, as well as your little family. Make yourselves comfortable and then we can talk business. I think I have a few people that would delight in playing with your little group.”

Isabel nodded. “Thank you, Auntie.”

Isabel led her family off to go find some rooms. Kane and the kids looked around in awe because they felt like they were in a movie as they strolled through the place and saw people training in martial arts.

“So, Bella, that woman is your aunt?” Kane asked.

“Yes, although I’m not too sure how. Then again, she was introduced to me as such a very long ago, and one learns to not question my grandmother when she speaks,” Isabel replied.

“And how long will we be staying here?”

“We should be able to get a few months out of this place. Or so I hope,” she answered. She needed training from her aunt and she knew that she needed it for more time than she had spent in Brazil.

“And what will we be doing here?”

“Learning to protect ourselves, of course.”

Kane nodded to that and he did wonder what the training would involve. He never did get to see Isabel’s training sessions. His and the children’s work involved more learning to control their own bodies than actual moves. He was not surprised that the man teaching them was aware of their special talents as everyone in the Han family seemed to be in communication about what happened to them. He was rather flattered that the family was taking good and special care of them.

“Bella, your family is …” Kane was at a lost for words.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ve been like that since always and we’ll always be like this. This is how our family survives the ages and how we manage to keep our memories, our own familial culture, and ourselves alive. Just remember this and if someone comes to us for help, help out as much as you can,” Isabel replied. He could only nod.

Isabel was actually pleased with the trip just for the fact that her children were getting to see what the Han family was about. She wanted them to understand the legacy that they carried with them. It was a bonus for Kane to understand what he married into.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the family moves to Rome and Sheshona makes a friend.


	24. Settling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, and Wen; Disney owns these characters. Wait, I do own Isabel and Kane. I also own Isabella and Victoria.

23: Settling

“Vic, how’re things going with Kane and Izzie’s house?” Isabella inquired, speaking on the telephone in her kitchen.

“It’s good. We’ve finally managed to get people to stop snooping around the place. I’m sure you would have loved to see me at work when they were pouring in here, trying to act all tough. Izzie would’ve been damn proud of me. Sometimes, some guys will come knock on the door and try to ask questions, but we know who they are and how to handle them. So, it’s no problem over here,” Victoria reported, shrugging on her end of the line. She sounded so nonchalant that her mother could guess that she shrugged. 

“All right. One would think after a year of this nonsense they would give up,” Isabella commented. She had to fight off a smile because she was damn proud of how her youngest daughter was handling everything. She never wanted to say it, but she had always been just a little worried about Victoria and her commitment to martial arts, but now it was clear that Victoria was just as capable as her big sister and mother when necessary.

“I don’t think they’re going to go away that easily. They still got the phone tapped?” the blonde asked curiously.

“They’re listening in as we speak,” Isabella answered as if it was nothing. Sometimes, she wondered just how many agencies had her lines tapped.

Victoria chuckled. “At least you get free phone service. You still talking to a few of them?”

“They try to pretend they’re not there. Every now and then I can get a boss to talk, hoping to get information out of me. Assholes,” Isabella said. Like hell she was just going to sell out her daughter and her grandchildren.

“They’re out there in that van, too?”

“I’m going to go wave to them in a moment.”

“Don’t hurt them too much, Mommy.” Victoria laughed because she knew that her mother was about to make life difficult for quite a few secret agents.

Isabella scoffed and that was all. They hung up and Isabella went to her window and watched a van parked across the street pull off. She and Victoria liked to keep the people watching them on their toes; some times were more painful than others for those people. She knew that another van would be back in a few days, but until then, her street would at least be clear.

For the past year, she and Victoria had been watching the home front for Kane and Isabel since the accident. They made sure that no one looked around the couple’s house and also fed the agencies hunting for the family false information. Victoria got a kick out of giving out outrageous information to see how many people would investigate and her sources would always get back to her that large groups listened to her, no matter how insane her words were.

Victoria had been in charge of clean up when the comet first hit. She and a team of trusted friends rushed over to the house and got things under control. She was able to save the comet pieces and get those to the scientists looking after her nephews, niece, and brother-in-law. It was a valuable catch, she had been told, and so she gave herself a pat on the back for that.

Now, Victoria was still in charge of the house. She and her friends were taking care of the place and having fun keeping people off of the property. Every now and then a wave of sadness did overwhelm her, usually when she walked by the kids’ rooms because she did miss them all.

“But, we should be able to have them back soon enough,” Victoria said to herself with a smile. She knew that everyone in her family was working on making things safe for Kane and the kids so that they could get back to having normal lives.

-*-(A year later)-*-

“I can’t believe we’re doing something so brazen,” Kane muttered while looking around in disbelief.

“It’s fine, dearest. Aren’t you happy to be back in your native Italy?” Isabel inquired while clutching onto her husband’s arm to help calm him down. She did not seem to have a care in the world, smiling softly while the slight breeze blew her light blue sundress. They were walking around Rome as if everything was all right.

“I am. It’s just, this doesn’t seem safe,” Kane pointed out with his eyes focused on their children, who were walking ahead of them.

“It’s fine. Have I steered us wrong yet?” she countered, still smiling.

Kane could not argue that point. Isabel had kept them safe for the past two years. She was the one getting them training to better themselves, finding out good hiding places, keeping them at least five steps ahead of everyone gunning for them, and working on getting rid of the people chasing them. _She’s incredible_ , he thought. She was just simply amazing.

“So, what are we doing in Rome?” he asked curiously.

“Well, I need to see a few people and then we’re going to go to your house,” she replied as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

“My house? We’re staying at my house?” he inquired, eyes wide from confusion and eyebrows curled upward.

“Yes, we’re staying out your house.”

“Bella, seriously, is that safe? Is the heat on us dying down that much?” he asked incredulous to it all. He wondered why it was safe for them to wander about Italy like everything was fine, but not the United States. To him, they should have been the same thing.

“My family is taking care of it. You should know that by now. I’ve been told we should be able to go back home within the year, which is good because we need to put the kids back in school. They need some normal interaction with people before they lose what little minds they have left,” she remarked with a smile as she turned her attention to the kids.

Honestly, Isabel was worried about their children. She doubted their two years on the run was healthy, even though the kids looked at it as quite the adventure. They had learned a lot of new martial arts and how to use their powers, which was great. They saw all sorts of new sights and learned a whole lot of things; no, their education was not neglected during the exile from normal society. Still, they had not really gotten the chance to interact with children their own ages for a while. Sheshona and Hadrian got to meet some children their age, but nothing strong enough to build a bond of friendship or anything like that. Isabel wanted that to end soon. The kids deserved friends, after all.

“So, how is it you’re working us out of being wanted?” Kane asked curiously.

“I don’t know all of the details. The older people in my family like to be secretive when they work and they don’t tell me everything. They have some things worked out, but they’re still trying to figure others out. I’m doing things my own way, which tends to be less delicate than others, but my way is also slower. Besides, I can’t scare a whole secret organization on my own,” Isabel answered, smiling as if she amused herself.

“Are you sure about that? Have you tried?” he teased her, feeling a little more like himself rather than the worrywart he felt he was becoming.

“Alas, I seem to have lost some of my bite,” she feigned heartache. “My family will take care of it. It just takes some time.”

“Well, I hope we can go back home soon,” he muttered.

“We will. Just give it some time. One can’t go from being fugitives to be living normally again. Besides, I have enjoyed this somewhat,” she commented.

Kane gave her a skeptical look, but then he noticed that she was still smiling, like she was laughing on the inside. He then nodded, knowing just what she was enjoying about being in exile. The underground life actually agreed with Isabel.

“You just like all of the fighting you’ve gotten to do over the past couple of years,” he said, pretty much calling her on what she was enjoying.

“Well, yes, I did enjoy that a great deal. Has it not been pleasing for you to watch me crush my opponents?” she asked with a laugh. She was joking, but he decided to respond anyway.

“It does get me all hot and bothered seeing you wail on people like that,” he concurred. He did not get to see her fight too much outside of the training sessions that they had been getting since going on the run, but he had to admit that Isabel was a force to be reckoned with. He had heard things from the few people that went with Isabel to fight in tournaments and things, as their teachers always urged them to do because being in a real fight was totally different from being in a training session or sparring.

Kane was amazed at how good he was, but even with powers that allowed him to learn things faster than he thought possible, he still could not hold a candle to Isabel. It was not just her skill, but also her mentality, which was something he did not have. However, he did notice that the kids possessed the same thing. Their thought process was geared toward fighting, seeing ahead, changing in an instant if necessary, and just making it through a fight with style, grace, and fierceness that he was sure would send a lion running for cover. He thought that it might just be in the Han genes, like the way that they looked out for each other.

The two parents turned their attention back ahead of them toward their children. The kids were walking around as if they had been to Rome a billion times. Hadrian was holding Wes on his shoulders while Sheshona was holding both Matteo’s and Wen’s hands. Hadrian and Sheshona were the same height, although Sheshona swore that she was taller, which started a lot of arguments between the older pair. Right now, they were all getting along just fine.

They were dressed normally; all of them in jeans and plain t-shirts. They did not stand out much, except for Sheshona’s skin and Matteo’s skin and hair. They had control of their powers enough to where Hadrian could make his hair change from blue to black at will; it did keep a little blue tint to it, though. Sheshona’s hair was the same where she could change it to the point that was her original raven color with the green tint to it. Matteo’s hair remained a mauve color no matter how hard he tried to change it; the elder siblings just thought he did not know how to change it. The twins’ hair was the same as always, so they did not need to change it.

One of the things that made them stand out, too, was how athletic they all were. They were not sure if their bodies were that way from training or from the comet. Hadrian’s body type was the one that kind of threw them off because of how muscular he was for a ten-year-old boy. They were ready to concede that it might just be the comet that made their bodies the way they were.

The whole Go family turned as they heard a woman scream. They watched as man ran off with a purse and since he was not wearing the matching shoes, everyone doubted that it was his. Hadrian and Sheshona looked at each other and smiled, reading each other’s minds it would seem.

The elder pair of siblings took off after the purse-snatcher after letting their younger siblings go. Their parents just watched them take off, used to the scene more than anything else. The younger kids went over to their parents, wanting a better view of what their older siblings were about to do. Matteo stood on his father’s shoulders while Isabel picked up the twins.

Hadrian caught up to the purse-snatcher quite easily. He was capable of using his super-strength to push his legs beyond human limits, so he had a little bit of super-speed thanks to his strength. He ran up ahead of the thief and placed himself right in the man’s path. Either the guy would stop or run into him; he figured that the thief would be better off stopping, even if the guy did not know it.

The purse-snatcher actually did stop when he noticed the little boy in his way. He just did not stop for long, thinking that he was going to be changing direction. The momentary halt was all Sheshona needed for a clean shot and she threw a mini-plasma blast, to avoid a bunch of people noticing, striking the thief in the hand. He hissed in pain as his flesh was burned and he dropped the purse. He grabbed his hand and the next thing he knew, he had a little boot on his cheek; it was Hadrian’s boot.

The purse-snatcher was knocked a few feet from the move while Sheshona picked up the purse. The brother and sister pair slapped each other a five-high for a job well done. There were some cheers from the people around while the kids walked off to return the purse to its rightful owner. The woman smiled down at the children and thanked them both, going so far as to kiss them on the cheek. They both blushed, but no one thought anything of that.

The heroic pair charged off before any other commotion could be made on their behalf. They disappeared into the crowd with their parents and were gone while people were telling the story to the police. Kane and Isabel laughed to themselves; in two years, their children still had not figured out how to keep a low profile.

“And you’re sure it’s safe for us here?” Kane inquired, talking to his wife.

“I’m positive. My grandmother gave us the okay and she is as reliable as she is evil,” Isabel remarked.

“You swear every woman in your family is evil,” he pointed out.

“Uh, we are if you hadn’t noticed and not just the women. Everyone in my family is evil,” she countered quite seriously.

“If you were as evil as you claim, we’d be on our own for this.”

“There are different types of evil. The fact that we are evil is the reason no one has caught us yet and why we are able to wander the streets of a city like Rome with little worry about all of those people hunting for you,” she stated.

Kane was caught there. Her family had to be something if they were able to keep so many different agencies at bay. Every now and then, some people did catch up with them and he did get to see how the kids had their own drop of Han evilness. Trying to kidnap their offspring was just not a good idea, especially since it brought out his dark side and Isabel was just a demon.

“Hey, Daddy, you see that babe kiss me?” Hadrian remarked, talking about the smooch on the cheek he got. He grinned, just like his father, as he spoke those words.

“Oh, goddamn it, Kane,” Isabel groaned because their eldest was turning into a little pervert.

“Oh, yes, blame me because the little prince got some action,” Kane commented and then he gave the ten-year-old a five.

“Hey, I got a kiss, too!” Sheshona pointed out, motioning to her cheek that did have a little lipstick imprint on it.

“Right, you did. Here you go!” Kane gave their daughter a five, too.

Isabel just rubbed her forehead, not even sure where to begin with Kane encouraging Sheshona, not that she was proud of him encouraging either of their kids. Instead of saying anything, she just punched Kane, right on the chin. His head snapped to the side; she still did not pull her punches with him.

“Ow! What was that for?!” he demanded to know.

“Turning our kids into perverts,” Isabel answered.

“What? They just appreciate the affection and I’m congratulating them on that appreciation,” he explained with a large grin that belied his words.

Isabel rolled her eyes. _All I need is two more perverts in the family_ , she thought sarcastically. The family continued on through the city and Isabel was actually able to carry out what she needed to do without moving too far away from the rest of the family. With that out of the way, the family went to Kane’s house.

“Daddy’s place!” Sheshona cheered before running off to explore the mansion.

“I love how it’s your place,” Isabel remarked, gently elbowing her husband in the side.

Kane just smiled while the boys dashed off after their sister, leaving the parents alone. Kane glanced at Isabel, who gave him a nod. With that, he seemed to vanish, whipping up heavy wind while he was at it. Isabel’s hair flew wildly to the left, but did not even have time to settle before her husband was back.

“Coast is clear?” Isabel asked.

“Yup!” Kane replied. His body was surrounded by a yellow halo that was dimming as he stood still. Isabel paid the glow no mind.

“Even now, I can’t get over the irony of you having super speed of all things,” Isabel commented with a light chuckle.

“I’m not a fan,” he grumbled. It was such a stupid power, he thought. He always hated the Flash, Quicksilver, and any other fictional character that could more super fast. _Who the hell wants to be super fast?!_

“It has its place,” she reminded him and kissed him on the side of the head to make him feel better.

Kane frowned, pretending to be upset, knowing it could possibly get him more kisses. It was quite the good gamble as he did earn more affection. After a while, he could not hold it in anymore and grinned madly while his face was covered in light lipstick impressions. She shook her head when she noticed his expression.

“So, how long will we be here?” Kane asked curiously as he and his wife walked off. They were heading for the second floor to a balcony that they had come to enjoy spending time on during their last visit.

“For a little while, dearest. You don’t like being in your own home?” Isabel countered. She was not too sure how long they would be there, but she knew that it had to be a while if it was recommended to her that they stay at Kane’s home and that they could enroll the children in school.

“I very much enjoy it. Can we put the kids back in school while we’re here?” he asked.

“You’re damn right we can. I’m sick of having them around all the time,” she remarked with a smile.

Kane chuckled wildly, not expecting her to put it so bluntly, even though that was the way she typically put everything. So, they were safe enough for them to send the kids to school and live a residence that was obviously his. He could not help wondering why then they did not just return to the States.

“Bella, why can’t we just go home?” Kane asked as they made it to the terrace. It gave them a breath-taking view of his vast estate. He moved to wrap his arms around her waist and hold her close.

“It’s not so secure at home yet, sweetheart. My family will let us know when we can make it home. For now, let’s enjoy this home. We are still together and this is your house, after all. This is the best so far,” she pointed out, reaching up to press his head against her shoulder. She was a bit pleased that he had grown some, maybe a side effect of the comet or just a very late growth spurt.

“How could they make it safe in Italy, but not in the U.S?” he wondered aloud.

“Well, for one, a little more attention would be paid if a wealthy Italian with noble blood and his family went missing from their home in Italy,” she informed him.

He nodded. “I suppose you’re right. How will they secure things in the U.S then? I mean, I’m just another guy there.”

“That’s why it takes a little more time. I trust my mother and grandmother to fix this mess in their own ways. Have faith.”

Kane nodded again. He supposed that he should just take her advice. She had been right so far, so he decided to just enjoy being at a home with his family. Besides, he was sure that his extended family would like to know that he, his wife, and children were back around. It would give them all a chance to get to know and annoy each other better.

-8-8-8-8- 

The Go family established themselves comfortably in Italy. The children were enrolled in school; luckily, they already spoke enough Italian to get in trouble without much help from anyone else. They did meet friends that wanted to help get in trouble, though. They seemed to miss school as much as their parents missed being able to get rid of them. School was somewhat different then before for the eldest pair.

“Hadrian, you want to go climb the tree in middle of the school yard?” Sheshona asked as she ran up to her brother. 

Hadrian was standing with two other boys. Sheshona knew that they were older boys, a grade ahead of Hadrian. They gave her what she thought were creepy looks while she awaited her brother’s response. Hadrian looked at her and then at his friends.

“I’m hanging with them,” Hadrian replied, nodding toward his buddies.

“Well, I can hang, too,” Sheshona stated.

Hadrian looked at his friends again, who shook their heads. He turned his attention back to his sister, who looked quite determined to hang out with them. He folded his arms across his chest and with a hard look in his eyes told her just what was on his mind.

“You can’t hang out with us,” Hadrian said soundly.

“Why not?” she demanded with anger written all across her features.

“Because we don’t want a little baby hanging with us,” one of the boys said.

“Fuck you. I’ll whip your ass in this yard right now,” Sheshona declared confidently.

Hadrian stepped in. “It’s not about that, Shona. I see you everyday at home, all the time. I just want to hang out with my friends.”

Sheshona frowned and gave her brother the finger. “Fuck you for siding with them.”

“Go make your own friends,” Hadrian ordered. Really, he did not understand why the hell she _always_ wanted to hang out with him. He wanted to be alone sometimes with his own friends rather than have to share them with her.

Sheshona stormed off, not bothering to respond to her big brother. She told herself that she did not care about him or his stupid friends. She curled up with her sketchbook in a corner and decided to do some drawing. She was fine until she felt a presence looking over her shoulder. She turned back to see one of her classmates, a girl, staring at her picture. A girl with rather enchanting, brown eyes that almost looked red.

“It’s pretty,” the girl commented with a bright smile. The picture was a very nice flower with all sorts of details that most people would not expect a nine-year-old to draw or another nine-year-old to appreciate.

“Uh … thanks …” Sheshona muttered. She had not been complimented on her art in a long time and it felt rather nice, she noted. There was also something about the way that the girl was smiling at her that warmed the super-powered girl in a way that was completely new, and rather pleasant.

“You’re a good artist, Sheshona,” the girl said, tucking a stray strand of dark brown hair behind her ear.

Sheshona tried her best to fight back a blush, but it won the battle; her cheeks flushed a dull pink. She did not know why she had that reaction, but she guessed it was just because it had been such a long time since she was complimented on her work. A sneaky voice in the back of her head said a plus was that the compliment came from a pretty girl.

“Thanks, Carina …” Sheshona said, almost as if she was suddenly shy. She thought that her nervousness might have come from the fact that she had not really spoken with any of her classmates since starting school a couple of weeks ago.

The girl, Carina, smiled. It was as if she was delighted that Sheshona just knew her name. Her eyes even shined when the expression washed over her face. She sat down next to Sheshona, who went back to drawing. Carina was quiet and merely smiled if Sheshona ever glanced at her. The smiles did draw a blush from the pale girl each time.

“Let’s be friends,” Carina proposed as they had to go back to class.

“Friends?” Sheshona echoed. _My own friends?_ It was an odd notion to her. She was used to just sharing Hadrian’s friends, but he did not want her around right now. “Sure, let’s be friends. I’d like that.”

Carina smiled and almost laughed as Sheshona blushed again. Instead of laughing, she said, “You’re cute when you blush.”

It was surprise that Sheshona’s head did not explode from the sudden burst of blood in her face. Her blush burned her cheeks to the point that she would not have been surprised if they burst into flames. She had never been told such a thing before and she did not know how to react. Usually, she would just get angry if she did not know how to respond to something, but she did not feel like being angry. She realized that she liked being complimented, which she supposed was normal. Who did not like compliments, after all?

“You want to walk home together?” Carina asked Sheshona after school. She was smiling, just as she had been every time she spoke to her new friend. The shine did not leave her chocolate eyes either.

“Um … I usually walk home with my brothers and my father,” Sheshona replied, glancing away. She felt embarrassed by that for some reason that she could not figure and she wished that she did not walk with her family at that very moment.

“Oh.” Carina looked disappointed for the first time that day. “You _have_ to walk home with them?” she pressed the issue.

“No. I just always do …” Sheshona answered, glancing away yet again.

“You can’t change your routine just once?” Carina requested with mischief in her tone, but hope in her gaze.

“I guess I can. Let me just tell them I’m going to walk home with you.” Sheshona jogged off, not even bothering to find out if she and Carina lived close enough to each other to walk home together. She jogged up to her father, who was trying to fix Matteo’s book-bag, but it seemed that the strap was broken. “Daddy,” she said.

“Yes, Shona?” Kane inquired, not really looking at her. His eyes were focused on the book bag strap, trying to figure out how Matteo managed to split the thing in half vertically. He had to give it to the kid; he did not do things halfway.

“Umm … I’m going to walk home with my friend, okay?” Sheshona explained. She felt odd saying it and she was not sure why. Maybe it was because she never had a friend of her own, she considered.

“Friend?” Kane glanced over Sheshona’s shoulder to see Carina waiting a few yards away. He gave Sheshona a sly grin. “She’s a little cutie, Shona,” he teased.

Sheshona seemed to comprehend the taunt and a blush flared in her face. She huffed heatedly. “We’re just friends, Daddy!” she hollered and then she stormed off.

Kane laughed and watched Sheshona walk off with her friend. He did not think anything of it; Sheshona could protect herself, after all. Sheshona and Carina talked about school on their way home, finding out that they did live close to each other. They got to Carina’s house first, but Sheshona was hardly five minutes away from her. They decided to make a tradition out of walking home together.

-8-8-8-8-

“Have you seen Shona with her friend, Carina?” Kane asked curiously. He was speaking Isabel, who was lying on the bed and reading a book. They were just relaxing around their bedroom.

“I have. She has been over here a few times, hanging on Shona while Shona draws,” Isabel replied blandly. They shared quite the dull friendship most of the time in her opinion.

“It’s cute, isn’t it?” he inquired. He really was asking a question and not making a statement. It seemed a little strange to him, but he was not sure why that was or what to make of it.

“I suppose,” she answered, bored.

“Are they how girl friends are?” he asked curiously. They seemed just a little weird to him, but he was not sure why. They seemed a little close for friends and sometimes they seemed intense, too intense for nine-year-olds.

“Yes.” She did not see anything different about them than other girls with their best friends, except of course the way Sheshona always blushed around Carina. Well, there was also the way that the girls looked at each other, but she supposed that could just be her reading too much into things. Carina was Sheshona’s first friend, after all.

Kane shrugged; he guessed it was fine if Isabel said so. _What do I know about girls being friends, after all?_ He was an only child and a guy.

Despite it all, they both thought that Carina was good for Sheshona. She was not so dependent on Hadrian for company anymore and she did seem happier for it. In the short time that Sheshona had known Carina, she had invited the petite brunette over almost everyday; the same was true with Carina, so they often found themselves just wondering whose house to go to. Sheshona usually drew, which no one knew, was mostly at Carina’s insistence because she thought that Sheshona had real talent and should practice as often as possible.

Kane agreed that Sheshona should practice as much as possible, so he did not mind that aspect of their friendship. Really, what he thought was weird was just how much Carina latched onto Sheshona so quickly and how they just seemed to want to spend every waking moment together. But, once again, he let it go.

Suddenly, Isabel closed her book and got up from the bed. Kane seemed to know what had her attention, so he was not surprised as she went to the balcony in their room and leaped off. He pitied whoever was down there. 

Isabel landed with all the grace of a cat. She then went right into her move, swinging her leg around and bashing the skull in of a person lurking outside of their home. The person, who was dressed in all black, collapsed to the ground, as designed. She then whipped around, slamming her foot into the jaw of a person coming up behind her. She did not twitch as she heard and felt the now very familiar shattering of bone.

Isabel turned, knowing there were others around the place. She found herself looking down the barrel of a handgun. She only frowned as she locked eyes on the person holding the weapon.

“Back up and let us in,” the masked person commanded Isabel.

“You should have shot me while you had the chance,” Isabel replied with a dangerous growl in her throat.

The assailant seemed ready to pull the trigger, but then suddenly a force that felt like a mallet smashing against his skull got caused him unconsciousness. Kane grinned at his wife and shot her a thumbs’ up.

“Is the house secure?” Isabel asked.

“I ran around it a few times. I picked off some guys on the roof, but these three were the closest. I’ll get rid of these pests,” Kane replied.

“And I’ll make a few calls to find out what’s going on and if we need to be moving on already.”

Kane nodded, but frowned. She knew that he was not ready or wanting to move on, unless they were going back to their home in the United States. He was tired of running about and he was glad to be established somewhere. She could understand that and she was going to work on keeping them where they were until they could go back to the States.

“Mommy, what the fuck?” Isabel demanded to know as she paced the living room as much as the phone cord would allow her to.

“Calm down, Izzie. We’re doing our best. Every now and then an asshole is going to get through. You and Kane can handle it,” Isabella replied.

“Yes, Mommy, we can—” Isabel was cut off.

“I know you’re worried about the fact that your kids are in the house, but you’re not going to let anyone get to them. It’s not something to get completely worked up about. You’re not going to let anything happen to my grandchildren.”

Isabel could not call her mother a liar on that. She had trained herself to be something beyond deadly to make sure that nothing happened to her family. She had pushed herself and gone beyond her limits. She would continue to do so until her family was totally safe.

“Isabel, don’t worry. We’re on this. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Your grandmother is making deals as we speak. I’ve been with her to help and your sister is keeping your house together for when you come back. It’ll be fine, Izzie,” her mother assured her.

“I know,” Isabel stated soundly.

“How are my little grands anyway?”

“Exhausting. Shona finally went out and made a friend of her own, so she’s not always hanging on Hadrian. I’ll get them to call you tomorrow and you can hear all about it,” Isabel said.

Isabella agreed with that and got off the line. Isabel made a couple of more calls to find out if Italy was as safe as she was led to believe, which she was assured it was, even though there was the little attack not even an hour ago. Kane returned when she was done and wrapped her in a hug.

“How goes everything?” Kane inquired.

“According to my mother, crazy family members, and other contacts, this was just a minor slip of some group that seems to want to die,” Isabel replied.

“So, we’re good to stay here?”

“Yes. Let’s go to bed,” Isabel said.

Kane nodded and they returned to their bedroom. They did not talk about what Kane might have done with their intruders. He also did not bring up the fact that Isabel had more than likely crippled the guys that she hit … well, crippled if they were lucky, killed if she was accurate. It did not matter.

They did not really sleep for the next few nights, but found things to be normal. Eventually, they were able to get back to normal. They did wait for word for when they would be able to go back to the United States.

-8-8-8-8- 

Next time: Sheshona grows closer to Carina, but things end in tears.


	25. Just words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, or Wen; Disney does. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Carina.
> 
> I also don’t own Superman, Doomsday, and Apocalypse; they’re owned by DC and Marvel respectively.

24: Just words 

Sheshona was in a park with her sketchbook; she carried it all the time now. She sketched almost everything, almost all the time. She was sitting underneath a tree in a grassy area and letting her hand go where it pleased as she drew a shining lake in front of her. She pouted a bit as her hand was hit as Carina flopped down next to her.

“Sorry about that,” Carina apologized softly as she noted her mistake. She then made herself comfortable close to her friend.

“It’s okay …” Sheshona muttered as she took her eraser to the meandering line across her park sketch. She still had an almost shy personality around Carina when they were alone and it was peaceful around them. She often wondered if something was wrong with her, for acting what she was certain was stupid around her best friend, really her only friend. She hoped that eventually the bashfulness would go away. 

“It’s nice out today. I’m glad you invited me to the park with you,” Carina said with a smile. Her hand brushed up against the pale girl’s arm as she continued to move.

Sheshona blushed a little and then focused as hard as she could on her drawing while willing the heat in her cheeks to die down. She tried her best to ignore how soft Carina’s fingertips were, but it was impossible. She always thought about how gentle Carina’s touch was.

“That’s what friends do,” Sheshona said absently, concentrating on her work more than anything else.

Carina smiled again; her deep brown eyes seemed to shine. “Such a good little artist.”

“Shut up,” Sheshona grumbled. It was a tease that Carina picked up from Kane.

“What? Only your daddy can say that, Shona?” A mischievous smile curled onto the oval-shaped face and those brown eyes twinkled with impish delight. For a moment, Sheshona’s little heart beat rapidly in her chest.

“Shut up,” Sheshona huffed and she playfully shoved her friend.

Carina chuckled a bit as she righted herself and set herself back up next to the pale girl. During their time as friends, Carina had learned there were plenty of things that only Kane was allowed to say to Sheshona. Carina used such things to tease her best friend often, finding it funny to hear and watch Sheshona grumble.

They were quiet for a while. Carina just wanted Sheshona draw and Sheshona finished up her piece. They were pulled away as dark clouds rolled in and the sky cried out with a thunderous roar. They knew that they needed to get home quickly.

Sheshona packed her sketchbook into a bag and flung it over her shoulder. The friends then took off as small droplets descended from the sky and tapped them on the shoulders. Those droplets rapidly turned into a downpour and the pale girl feared her sketchbook might be ruined if the weather remained as it was on their journey. And then, they were rescued.

“I knew you two would be out here,” Kane remarked as he pulled his car up on the street.

Sheshona and Carina wasted no time leaping into the warm, dry car. They did not care what Kane was doing there or how he knew where to find them; they were just happy to be some place dry. Kane drove off as soon as they were secure in the vehicle.

“I have to go get your brother or your mother is going to gut me like a fish,” Kane explained as he turned the car around. 

“Ew,” Carina muttered with a disgusted face and that got a small chuckle out of Sheshona before she reprimanded her friend.

“Leave my big brother alone,” Sheshona said in a slightly reprimanding tone.

Carina only smiled, like an angel to make things worse. Sheshona actually felt her insides melt from that look. She found it damned hard to stay mad at her best friend when she was looking so much like a cherub, even if her best friend was insulting her beloved big brother.

Carina found Hadrian to be a pain, especially after knowing him for so many months. There was something about him that just rubbed her the wrong way, which she could not really talk much about because she knew that Sheshona really loved Hadrian. _Why?_ She could not figure out the answer. Hadrian did not seem to hold as much love for his sister as his sister did for him, in her opinion anyway.

Sheshona busied herself by going into her book bag to check on her sketchbook. Carina looked over to see what she was doing. Sheshona flipped the book at every angle and flipped through the well-worn, black-covered book to make sure that it was still in proper order. As soon as she seemed satisfied with its condition, Carina requested a chance to look through it.

“You’ve seen everything in it, though,” Sheshona pointed out.

“So? I want to see it again,” Carina answered plainly. She would have thought that by now her friend understood that she thoroughly enjoyed seeing her artwork.

Sheshona did not argue. She handed the book over to Carina, who quietly looked through it. Sheshona consumed time by glancing at her friend, just taking in the sight of her and silently hoping that she did not get caught doing it for the millionth time. She hated the way that her heart raced whenever Carina busted her staring.

Sheshona could not figure out why she enjoyed staring at her friend so much. She considered that it might just be because of how elegant Carina seemed, even at their age. There was just something about Carina that was graceful from the way that she stood and walked to the soft manner that she spoke. Everything about Carina seemed deliberate, but light and almost carefree, which was contrast to what Sheshona was used to seeing. Sheshona did suspect that the light movement of her friend was what fascinated her.

Carina did not glance over at Sheshona as she slowly flipped through the pages of the sketchbook. She lingered on pictures that she enjoyed and smiled softly to herself. _Sheshona was such a good artist_ , she thought.

The friends hardly noticed the car stop, but they did note when Hadrian climbed into the vehicle. He took the front seat next to Kane, but spent his time turned around to look in the back. Sheshona greeted him, but his attention was on Carina rather than Sheshona. Carina did not acknowledge him until he started speaking to her.

“Carina, you should look at my sketchbook, too, when we get to the house. Mine’s is better,” Hadrian declared with a cocky grin.

Carina openly scoffed. “No, it’s not. Shona is a better artist than you’ll ever be,” she boasted.

Hadrian frowned and scoffed, too. He was without a comeback for a few long moments. Carina smirked wickedly, enjoying to have put him in his place. It would teach him to stop trying to put down her friend’s accomplishment, the brown-haired girl thought. She also hoped it would get him to stop speaking to her.

“What do you know about it, anyway? You’re just a little girl,” Hadrian proclaimed to dismiss her altogether. He had the nerve to have a haughty look on his face, as if his words meant something.

“Hey,” Kane reprimanded the boy in a surprisingly stern tone. “What’s this talk? Who are you picking up those kinds of things from?” he inquired.

“His stupid friends,” Carina guessed with a tight expression on her face.

“Stupid Jason,” Sheshona mumbled bitterness seeping out of her voice like sap from a tree. She noticed that her brother was allowed contact with that Jason guy again and her brother called him every now and then. Usually after being on the phone with Jason, Hadrian was standoffish for a little while.

“So, little prince, where are you getting these things from?” Kane demanded to know. He would be damned if he was going to let his son, _Isabel’s_ son, insult women just because Carina said something that he disliked.

“I was just kidding,” Hadrian grumbled, having the nerve to look sour that he was being scolded. He huffed and folded his arms across his chest.

“Don’t play like that,” Kane ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Hadrian practically hissed.

The ride to the house was tense after that, mostly because of Hadrian. Carina went to the Go home as it continued on raining. She made sure to pack up Sheshona’s sketchbook with all the care that the pale girl would do on her own before exiting the car. She and Sheshona retreated to the girl’s bedroom as soon as they got into the house.

“How come Carina can come in? My friends never come in,” Hadrian huffed while watching the girls ascend the stairs.

“You never invite your friends in, doy,” Matteo remarked as he walked through the foyer.

“He’s got you there,” Kane said, trying his best not to laugh. Matteo seemed to be picking up on his parents’ wiseassery.

Hadrian only frowned; _everyone around me is a goddamn smartass_ , he thought. He was tempted to go call Jason, as he did during times of frustration or anger, but he decided against that. Instead, he decided that he was going to go bother the girls since Carina was such a pain in the ass to him most of the time.

Sheshona had her door shut, which was not uncommon when Carina was around. Her brothers liked to barge in and most of the time she really did not mind, but every now and then, she liked having Carina to herself; Carina occasionally liked having Sheshona to herself. The door being closed was more to keep Hadrian out than her little brothers, though. None of her brothers really respected the closed door; hell, the twins did not even know what it meant.

Hadrian burst into the room to find the girls doing something he found boring and, surely, his little sister would have found it the same if only she was not brain-washed by Carina, he thought anyway. Carina was braiding Sheshona’s flowing ebony mane while Sheshona was trying to finish up her sketch. They both turned their attention to the door as soon as it opened.

“What’re you two doing in here with the door shut?” Hadrian demanded, trying to sound like an adult.

“Minding our business, like you should do,” Carina replied. She wondered if the simpleton even knew what he was implying when he posed that question; she doubted he did … not that she totally understood it herself. Of course, she was not the one that said it.

“You should go home. Nobody wants you around here, anyway,” Hadrian declared, folding his arms across his chest and standing as if he could not be knocked down with a bulldozer.

“Shona wants me around,” Carina seemed to boast. She held her head high with pride and smiled.

“No, she doesn’t. She doesn’t like you,” Hadrian stated.

“Hey! I can talk for myself, you know!” Sheshona barked, a furious fire in her eyes. “Get out of my room, Hadrian, or I’m going to tell Daddy!”

Hadrian made a mocking face, as if he did not care if she called Kane, but he did walk away. Sheshona huffed; she could not figure out why sometimes her brother did not want her around when she wanted to hang out with him and then he wanted to crowd her when she wanted to be with her friend. She wished that he stopped trying to bother her and Carina all of the time, too. Carina got up and shut the door before returning to braiding Sheshona’s hair.

“Your brother is so annoying,” Carina complained as her fingers skillfully wrapped around her friend’s silky mane.

“He’s not that bad. He’s really fun to be around,” Sheshona argued, voice sounding just a bit weaker than usual when she stood up for her brother.

Carina rolled her eyes, having yet to see this “fun Hadrian.” She only saw that annoying boy that always tried to get in between her and her best friend. He was either always trying to get Sheshona away from her or get her away from Sheshona, usually by trying to get one of them to pay attention him. She did not see what his problem was, but then again, she did not see why Sheshona defended him either.

They remained sitting together peacefully until the twins barged in. They surprisingly had a purpose for making their appearance, although their wide grins implied otherwise. But then again, it seemed that they only knew how to grin.

“Mommy wants to know if you want snacks,” Wes reported while Wen nodded vigorously, backing up his double’s words. The twins were then caught staring, wondering what the hell was wrong with their sister’s hair.

“What does she got?” Sheshona asked curiously. She chose to ignore the fact that the twins were looking at her as if she had twelve heads. They were not quick in answering her question either; she doubted that they heard her speak.

“Hell if we know,” Wen managed to respond. “The hell is wrong with your head?” he decided to ask. Tact was just as a word as far as the twins were concerned. It was not entirely their fault; they were not old enough to know better and no one in their family was big on using tact.

“Shut up,” Sheshona weakly barked at her rude brother. “Carina, you want to go eat?”

Carina nodded and the group started for downstairs. The twins charged off, wanting to make a race out of things. Usually, Sheshona would have been right there with her brothers, but Carina did not seem interested, so Sheshona held off, walking with her friend. They went and they had a snack, which consisted of fruits and juice. The rain continued to pour, but the day went on as it typically did.

Carina and Sheshona spent the day in her room. The boys busied themselves with running in and out of the room for various reasons. The parents checked on the girls and got the boys to stop bothering them every now and then. When the rain did not show signs of letting up, Carina was given the chance to spend the night, so no one had to go back outside in the downpour. She called her parents and they allowed her the chance to spend the night; it was almost a routine with the girls anyway.

The girls tended to sleepover each other’s houses at least three times a week. Carina’s parents welcomed Sheshona into their home just like Sheshona’s parents did with Carina. Carina’s house felt like a second home to Sheshona and the same could be said with Carina as far as the Go house went.

Carina and Sheshona did the same things at night as they did during the day. They did join the rest of the family in the living room to watch a movie and when it was over, it was bedtime for everyone under the age of twenty, according to Kane. Carina shared Sheshona’s bed, which was large enough to fit five adults, so fitting two girls was easily done.

“Shona …” Carina said in a breath, showing that she close to falling asleep. Her eyes were halfway open … or halfway closed depending on who was asked.

“Yeah?” Sheshona replied. She was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. It prevented her from outright gawking at her best friend.

“Let’s go bike riding tomorrow.”

“Sure,” the pale girl agreed.

Carina smiled and then drifted off to sleep. The smile on her face never left. She dreamed of bike riding with her best friend; hopefully, the weather permitted the dream to become reality.

Sheshona decided to turn and watch her friend sleeping. She had weird thoughts about Carina, weird in her opinion anyway. She thought about things that she heard her father whispering to her mother; she thought these things about Carina. How beautiful the other girl was, how she looked like an angel, and how much she loved being with Carina. It was all so weird, but she thought that might be the way that friends were. After all, Carina was her first and only friend.

Sheshona had considered that she might ask Carina about it, but she did not want to embarrass herself anymore than she generally did when it came to her best friend. She sighed and guessed that she was just going to have to leave things be or talk to someone else about it. She ended up deciding on the latter and talking to her father one day when they were sitting in the yard. They were quietly sketching together.

“Daddy,” Sheshona said, eyes on her paper, but her mind was far from the drawing.

“Hmm?” he replied, eyes focused on his paper as well. He was trying to do a portrait of his favorite ladies, but it was not coming out as well as he would have liked. The picture that he was drawing from was too light and it was making it hard for him to draw Isabel and Sheshona.

“You think Mommy’s pretty, right?”

“Of course I do. In fact, I think she’s the most gorgeous woman on the planet,” he replied honestly.

“Why do you think Mommy’s pretty?”

Kane was confused by that question. His forehead wrinkled as his eyebrows knitted together. “What do you mean?”

She arched an eyebrow in curiosity. “Do other people think Mommy’s pretty?”

“I’m sure they do.”

“Why?” Sheshona inquired. She was not sure if she was asking the right questions because she really did not understand where she was going with things. She was not sure what she wanted to know either.

“Well, because they think she’s attractive, I guess,” he replied. He knew that he damn sure thought that she was attractive.

“Oh, okay. What’s attractive?” Sheshona asked curiously. She had heard about it in movies and things, but she did not really get it. She never really cared about it either until just now.

“Well, you know you like someone, like how I like your mommy,” Kane explained as best he could. He was starting to wonder where the hell her mommy was, so Isabel could answer some of these questions.

“So, if you think someone’s pretty you like that person like how you like Mommy?” Sheshona nodded to her own logic.

Kane suspected that he should correct that, but he really did not know how to go about it. Instead, he asked his own question. “You think someone’s pretty?”

“Me?!” Sheshona yelped and then she let out a little eep noise. “Uh … no!” She flailed her arms as if that made the denial more believable.

Kane took a moment to glance at Sheshona, who was now very interested in coloring her own picture with her nearby pencils. She was also blushing. He just could not let that go.

“You like somebody,” he teased in a sing-song tone. “You like somebody!” He poked her in the side with his pencil. 

“Hey! I don’t fucking like anybody!” she barked while moving away from her irksome father. Sometimes, she could understand why her mother hit him.

“Shona likes somebody! So, who’s the lucky boy?” he asked automatically, grinning like an idiot.

“I don’t like anybody!”

“Shona’s in love!”

Sheshona leaped on her father now, just hoping to shut him up. Kane laughed loudly, which attracted the other males of the house. The boys thought that Sheshona was just trying to beat up Kane, so they joined in. Isabel heard all of the noise, went to see what was going on, and turned to go back in the house when she saw that it was just the kids beating up their father.

-8-8-8-8-

“So, dearest, how badly do you want to go back home?” Isabel asked out of the blue as she suddenly climbed into Kane’s lap. He was minding his own business, sitting on the couch, and trying to take a nap while there were no kids in the house.

“Wha?” Kane asked in a daze while his hands automatically went around her waist. One hand rested firmly on her ass, feeling quite at home.

“How badly do you want to go back home?” she repeated.

“Why do you ask?” he countered while he started to caress the small of her back with his unoccupied hand.

“Because there is a deal in place that would allow us to go back home. It’s rather ridiculous in my opinion, but I’m sure it would be something that you could enjoy if you put your warped mind to it,” she vaguely explained while not bothering to discourage his hands.

“And what is this deal?”

“We will be under the protection of the government, if we do something for them in return.”

“Like what?” he asked curiously as his face scrunched up in confusion. His hands even stopped roaming for a moment while trying to figure out what the hell his wife was going on about.

“That’s up to you. Right now, my family is just trying to make it all right for us to come back into the country. They’re not after me, though. They’re after you and the kids. You have to figure out what you can do to get them to let us back into the country without having to worry about a million agencies trying to abduct you and the kids the moment we step off the plane.”

Kane nodded. “Help me?” he implored her with a pathetic pout on his face.

“You’re so pitiful,” she teased, leaning down to give him a chaste peck on the lips.

He grinned. “You love me this way.”

“Idiot.”

His grin persisted; he truly had come to believe that was the best term of endearment because it was from her heart. It was more realistic than the other terms she used to, in his opinion anyway. He tried to think of something while the house was quiet, but it was not until the kids came in screaming about comic books did he get what he considered to be a brilliant idea.

“I know what to do,” Kane said while dramatically punching his fist into his palm, earning very weird looks from his whole family and Carina.

“Daddy, stop being crazy,” Matteo scolded the adult. He really would not have cared if only he did not have center stage with his argument that Superman was dead for good and Doomsday could definitely beat Apocalypse.

“You want me to stop being alive then?” Kane inquired with a happy grin.

“What?” the purple-haired boy countered. He did not get what his father was implying.

“You asked me to stop being crazy, so you must want me to just stop living. If I did that, I wouldn’t fit in around here anymore either,” the father stated.

The guys suddenly got into a discussion about who was crazy and who was not in the family. Carina breathed a sigh of relief for all of their short attention spans. She hated when they got into their comic talk because she did not know a thing about comics, except that Sheshona sometimes drew her own or drew characters from comic books. She also lost all of Sheshona’s attention when the Go siblings started going on about comic books, which Carina was very much against.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs,” Sheshona said, taking Carina by the hand.

Carina looked at their hands before following her friend upstairs. Sheshona ignored the warm feeling that passed through their palms, having long ago dismissed it as a figment of her imagination. They disappeared upstairs into Sheshona’s room, getting away unnoticed while the guys started a wrestling match just for the sake of fighting.

-8-8-8-8-

“Bella, I know what we can do in order to help, and keep the government off our backs, and I know the kids would love it!” Kane explained with excitement in his voice as he bounced around Isabel, who could barely see him because he was moving at such a high speed.

“Do you think you could tell me while standing still?” Isabel requested. They were in their bedroom and Kane was just circling her, making her almost dizzy.

“Sorry, Bella,” he apologized while coming to a full stop and oddly bowing to her. He seemed so pleased with himself that she could not help chuckling and smiling in good spirits.

“Tell me what you wish to do.”

“Be Superman!” Kane declared without a hint of humor in his voice. His eyes sparkled and his grin seemed to reach up to his hair.

Isabel nearly fell over. Her geeky husband had said many nerdy things in the time that she had known him, also many random things. Never had the two ever met in such an absurd way, though. Adding to that, the little idiot looked so proud of what he said, as if his words were completely brilliant! She scratched the side of her head while sighing as if she was exhausted.

“You want to be Superman? How are you planning that? You use your super-speed to learn how to have super-strength?” she teased. She had to admit that Kane’s powers were useful, no matter how much he hated them. He read things faster and was able to actually hold much of the information, learning from books and through observation in ways that she could hardly imagine. 

“Sorry, got ahead of myself. What I meant was that we could be superheroes. The kids would love it and we would be doing a valuable service to the community,” he explained as best he could in his excited state.

“What makes you think I would endanger our children in such a manner?” Isabel inquired, almost indignantly, which he knew was feigned.

“Our kids in danger? As in threatened by individuals or circumstances? Unless we’re faced off with the devil himself with his army behind him, I don’t think there’s much danger that could come from our kids. And even then, I think the devil might want to think long and hard on the attack.”

“I don’t like it,” she said bluntly. There was something so close to neglectful in her opinion to have her children out fighting crime as if it was some game. She supposed that it was hypocritical, maybe even a little bizarre, of her to think that way. She would eagerly allow her children into a deadly martial arts’ battle in order to prove their merit and worthiness of their blood, yet this idea of Kane’s bothered her.

“Why not? They’ll get a kick out of it and we’ll be there to watch over them,” he pointed out.

“We?” _He wants to include me this insane act of pure geekiness?!_

“Well, I figured you’d want to, you know, hang around and see how cool we are!” Kane pointed out.

“Heaven help me, I’m married to a simpleton,” she muttered in disbelief, as if she did not know that the moment she took her vows. Well, maybe she had forgotten back then considering how drunk she was.

“And this surprises you? I’ll keep a good eye on the kids if this really bothers you. I think the little prince and Shona will be fine, though. They’ll like this and this should be enough to get us back into the country, right?” he asked, his eyes wide and watery, begging for confirmation.

“It should,” she admitted. She then found herself a bit curious of something. “Why are you so eager to return to the States, Kane? This is your country and home. You should be happy here.”

Kane shook his head. “I am contented here, but my happiness is in that house that your sister is caring for. That’s where we started a family and where we made ourselves one. This house, it used to be my home. It’s nice to be here, but I want to be home. I want to be in that house that we made together.”

Isabel nodded and pulled her husband into a surprising embrace. He felt a familiar warmth pass from her to him, turning his insides into melted goo. She placed a gentle kiss to his head.

“Those have to be the sweetest words you’ve said in general,” she remarked.

“I have my moments.”

Isabel nodded in agreement and then returned to slowly lavish him with affection. There was one obstacle to the plan of returning to the United States, though. They took a family vote, where four members agreed that they should go back to the States, two, the twins, were quite neutral since they could bug out in any country, and one vehement vote for staying in Italy.

“I’m not leaving Carina,” Sheshona stated soundly, voice hard, eyes similar, and her stance indicated that she was ready to fight over the issue. The living room was about to become a battleground if they wished to take her from her best friend, who was not in their company that day due to a prior appointment.

“Shona, you wouldn’t be leaving Carina,” Kane said in a soft voice, trying to throw her off her game in her opinion. She was not about to be fooled by that.

“I know I wouldn’t because I’m not going anywhere,” she replied with a determined look that was so much like her mother that her father was quieted by it.

“Now, now, you’re getting ahead of your own conviction, firefly. If you have been outvoted and we will all leave, what will you do?” Isabel inquired, hoping to cut her daughter off with logic.

“I’ll ask Carina’s parents if I can live with them,” she replied smugly.

“And if they say no?” Isabel pressed.

“I’ll ask family. We’ve got aunts, uncles, and cousins here,” the girl pointed out.

“And if they say no?”

“I will find a way,” Sheshona said with determination. There was no way in hell that she would allow them to take her from her best friend, her only friend.

“Why? Carina’s annoying as hell, so stop making a big deal about moving. You should be happy to get away from her,” Hadrian stated with a scoff.

“Shut up!” Sheshona roared, turning to glare her brother with a fire that made him shrink in her wake.

Hadrian gulped while their younger brothers all huddled together in fear mixed with excitement. They thought that they might see a fight. Even Kane was in a bit of shock; dear lord, his Shona was damn near a carbon copy of his Bella in the right circumstances.

“Calm down,” Hadrian somewhat pled, but tried to make it sound like an order.

“Fuck you! I’m not leaving!” Sheshona hollered and then she stormed out of the house. Her parents watched her go, even though they were both capable to stopping her.

“Why did that actually go better than I thought?” Kane wondered aloud.

“There was no plasma involved,” Isabel answered. Her husband nodded in agreement.

-8-8-8-8-

Sheshona eventually ran to Carina’s home, which was expected; she had wandered for a while before ending up on her friend’s doorstep. By that time, Carina was home and Sheshona engulfed her in a tight hug as soon as she saw the other girl. Carina was shocked by the behavior, not used to embraces from her gruff, boyish friend.

“Shona, what’s wrong?” Carina asked softly, holding her friend with care.

“They want to move back to America!” Sheshona shouted in distress. Despite her sorrow, she was not crying. It would never occur to her to cry; her first instinct was to be outraged.

“Why?” Carina inquired, shock and confusing almost choking her voice. Her grip instantly tightened around the taller girl. She was about to be without her best friend. _Why would Sheshona’s parents do this to us?_

“I don’t know. They want to go back to our old house and we’ve got a lot of family in America. But, that’s stupid. We’ve got a lot of family here, too, and a lot of other places all over the world!” the pale girl huffed.

“You don’t want to see your family in America?” Carina asked curiously. She was aware that Sheshona had some rather loving family in the States. She was used to watching Sheshona light up when on the phone with her grandmother and aunt.

Sheshona was silent for a long moment, implying the answer to that question rather bluntly. Sheshona’s hug than became more distressing, more desperate. Carina hugged back and patted her friend gently on the shoulder.

“You’re my only friend, Carina. When everyone else looks at me like I’m crazy or weird and even when my own big brother doesn’t want me around, you’re always here for me. I don’t want to leave you,” Sheshona stated soundly in a brokenhearted whisper.

“I don’t want you to leave either,” Carina replied.

“Then run away with me,” Sheshona suggested quite seriously. She pulled away to allow her friend to see the fire in her eyes.

“Run away? Silly girl, where would we go?” Carina asked, pouting sorrowfully despite her words. It would be so tempting, if only it was not impossible.

“I would take you all over the world. I’ve been through much of it already. We could see so many things and we’ll always be together.” Sheshona seemed so insistent, as if she alone could take complete care of her friend if they were off on their own, as if they were not so young.

Carina smiled; her own heart breaking and shattering because of her dearest friend’s sweet and desperate words. She reached out her hand and tenderly touched Sheshona’s cheek. Emerald eyes closed and a sigh escaped soft lips.

“I must be the bad one here, Shona. We would not survive on our own, alone in this world. Yes, you have seen much of it, but with safe arms wrapped around you. We’re two little girls with illusions of being grown,” Carina remarked with an elegance that Sheshona was certain she was born with.

“Then what is it I should do?” Sheshona begged and her voice sounded like she was ready to sob.

“Stay with me tonight and go back home tomorrow. If your family wants to leave, then you must go with them, just as I would have to leave if my parents decided to move. No amount of distance takes away from the fact that you are my best friend,” Carina stated with fervor that no twelve-year-old girl should possess.

Sheshona nodded, even though she was not in favor of that plan. She just did not have the strength in her to protest. Besides, Carina’s voice was so soothing and reassuring that it seemed to hypnotize Sheshona sometimes, especially now.

-*-(Next day)-*-

Sheshona returned her home on her own, believing that she needed to face her family alone. She steeled herself as she walked into the dining room while breakfast was going on. All eyes turned to her as soon as she entered the room.

“Good morning, firefly,” Isabel remarked with a bland look on her face, as if everything was normal. “There’s breakfast if you like.”

Sheshona moved wordlessly and noiselessly across the room to collect her food. She then sat at the table with the rest of her family, silently eating. She knew it was up to her to make the first move and it took her a while to defuse her anger before she could trust her mouth to work.

“I don’t agree with this move. I don’t want to leave here,” Sheshona said after several long minutes.

“We gathered that much,” Hadrian remarked.

“I want to leave!” Matteo declared loudly, as if suddenly it was his show. He was quieted by a biting glare from his sister. He shrank in his seat. “I was just saying is all …” he mumbled under his breath.

“Everything isn’t about what you were saying,” Sheshona hissed. Usually, she was fine with Matteo wanting everyone to look at him and she would give him the spotlight if he was saying something important, but right now, it was her time.

“Fine,” Matteo grumbled with a deep frown. He was not too thrilled with his beloved sister being cross with him.

“I know that we’re leaving and no matter how pissed I am, that’s not going to change anything. I just want to remind you that you’re taking me away from not only my best friend, but my only friend,” Sheshona said to everyone.

“Shona, we’re not doing this to mean or spiteful toward you. We know Carina’s important to you,” Kane replied in a gentle tone.

“We respect and acknowledge that fact, but we belong back home,” Isabel added on.

“Why? Why the hell do we belong in America? Why don’t we belong here?” Sheshona demanded. She wanted reasons for being ripped away from her best friend. She was forcing herself not to cry, feeling like she would not give her family the satisfaction of seeing the pain that they were causing her. The way that her organs felt like they were dissolved in bitter acid while her bones were being torn from her muscles bit by bit.

“That’s where our lives are,” Isabel replied.

“My life is right here with Carina!” Sheshona declared in a heated tone. “This is where I belong!”

“So, you never want to see Grandma or Auntie again? You never want to see your other cousins again? You never want to pick up everything that you left back in America? You want to run for the rest of your life? You want to run away?” Isabel challenged her daughter with a firm tone and glare to match. She dared that little girl to confirm that accusation.

Sheshona met her mother’s gaze and felt as if whatever was in her dropped out of her chest. Ever since the children were born, they were told to never submit, never give ground to those that were against them. They were to always control their destinies. They had been running, giving ground, and now she was suggesting that she would prefer to continue doing that. She might as well renounce her name if she continued that path, she told herself.

“I run from nothing,” Sheshona stated soundly. “I am a Han. I am a Go. I am me,” she replied.

“Then you will handle this business and, later on, walk another path of your choosing,” her mother said.

Sheshona nodded and just like that, she was agreeing to return to the United States. Her heart did sink and she wept internally, but showed her strongest face until the day that she would face Carina for the last time. The girls were allotted private time at the airport for their final farewell; Sheshona was the only one with a friend to see her off. Hadrian and Matteo knew plenty of people, but did not seem particular close to them while Sheshona only had Carina and watching them part was enough to break anyone’s heart.

“I’ll call everyday,” Sheshona promised as she and her best friend held each other in a tight embrace.

“I’ll write often,” Carina vowed.

“We’ll always be best friends.”

“Always.”

The embrace was so tight now that it appeared as if the girls were trying to merge. Carina wept on Sheshona’s shoulder, knowing that her pale friend would be too macho to do the same. Sheshona gently rubbed her friend’s shoulder and caressed her head. Carina bawled loudly from the tender touch.

“How can I continue my day without you?” Carina begged, voice cracking in despair.

“I’ll be strong for both of us. I’ll visit whenever I get the chance and you know you’re always welcomed at our house. Just don’t forget me,” Sheshona pled. She knew that someone like Carina, someone so charming and charismatic, could have easily made dozens of friends, yet remained with her exclusively for whatever reason.

“How could I forget you? You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. You don’t forget me,” Carina ordered in a firm tone.

Sheshona laughed a little, forcing the sound. The pair pulled away and Sheshona found herself gripped by a strange, strong urge as she looked into Carina’s shattered, brown-red eyes; the eyes were a reflection of all of Carina’s emotions. Sheshona’s brain implored her to act oddly: to kiss her friend. She did not even kiss her own parents, why should she kiss her friend? Instead, she settled for one last hug, holding her distressed friend close, feeling the overwrought heart beating against her own chest, which was being assault by her own ruined organ.

“We’ll always be best friends,” Sheshona vowed once again.

“Always.”

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: back in the States, the family fights crime, gets back to their lives, and Sheshona laments being away from Carina while taking up an odd hobby.


	26. Pandora’s box

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, or Wen; Disney does. I do own Kane, Isabel, Isabella, and Victoria.

25: Pandora’s box

Moving back to the United States was not so difficult after Isabel got reassurance that her family was indeed safe there. It was accepted that the super-powered members of the family would be heroes in Isabel’s native Go City. The team would be called in whenever matters got too serious for the police. They got communicators and everything, which the younger three children enthusiastically declared to be cool; Hadrian internally agreed with just as much energy. Kane seemed confused on how to feel, even though it was his idea. Sheshona was still lamenting leaving Italy, so she did not have feelings one way or another about the communicators or the fact that they were going to be able to pick code names or anything like that.

Reestablishing themselves was the difficult part. They had been gone for four years. The twins did not even recognize their grandmother and aunt. Matteo was a little shy around them for about twenty seconds before realizing that it was his chance to get a lot of attention. Hadrian was happy to see them, offering up a hug to each. Sheshona … well, she was still in a huff.

“What’s wrong with the little you?” Victoria asked her sister while nodding toward the pouting girl. They were standing in Isabella’s house, which had not changed much in the time that Isabel had been there last, which she expected of her mother.

“She’s upset. She left a very dear friend in Italy,” Isabel vaguely explained.

“Aw, Shona had a little boyfriend?” Victoria teased, speaking loud enough for her niece to hear.

“Fuck you, Auntie!” Sheshona hollered before storming out of the room.

Victoria chuckled. “Yes, Izzie, that certainly is a little you.”

“Fuck you,” Isabel grumbled before realizing what she was saying. _Dammit!_ The phrase was just so automatic when dealing with her little sister. Victoria laughed, of course, feeling her point was validated by the mother and daughter.

Victoria decided to leave her big sister alone and just get to know her little nephews and niece again. Sheshona remained in an antisocial mood, though. She was left alone for the moment. Her family was well aware that it was best to leave her alone and let her work through things on her own. That was how they all were much of the time, after all.

“So, did you guys pull Shona away from a little boyfriend or something?” Victoria asked curiously while glancing over at the sullen child, who was sitting near the window, gazing listlessly at the sky.

“A little girlfriend actually,” Isabel remarked dryly. She looked as if she was bored commenting on it, which was to be expected. Her little sister actually missed her mundane manner of putting things.

“A girlfriend? Seriously?” Victoria inquired because she knew that she could take that a number of different ways.

“Her best and only friend. It was a rather serious little friendship, though,” Isabel explained vaguely. Thinking about it, those two girls were rather intense with each other, which was the thought that always crossed her mind with Sheshona and Carina.

Victoria glanced at her niece and then turned her attention back to her sister. “Intense? Do you think …?” she trailed off because she knew that her sister would read her mind to know the question.

“I think it’s too early to say that. Seeing the friends together was a bit strange because it was so intense, but it could have easily come from the fact that Shona never had her own friend. I don’t think Carina had ever met anyone like Shona either, so they were rather drawn to each other. I’m not going to read anything more into it than that.”

Victoria nodded to show that she understood what her sister was talking about. She could not help wondering, though. She kept her questions to herself because her niece looked so overwrought that it would actually make her feel bad to tease the little girl right now. She wanted her niece to at least feel comfortable around her again before she started in with Sheshona; she did not want the girl to hate her, after all.

The most annoying thing by far for Kane and Isabel in moving back to America was Hadrian’s desire to reconnect with Jason. They were not sure what it was about the man that drew their son to him, but the older Hadrian got, the more he seemed to want to be around Jason. It seemed like as soon as they got home, he wanted to call Jason, which he eventually did.

“Mommy, can you drive me to his house?” Hadrian asked after getting off the phone with Jason.

“I suppose,” Isabel sighed. Amazingly enough, out of all of the things that Isabel had learned while overseas, how to drive was actually one of them. She had almost killed herself and her teacher, Kane, a number of times during lessons, and he hated to think about how many people she had mentally scarred and probably scared half to death during her lessons. But, they survived and Isabel was capable of getting behind the wheel of a car without a state of emergency having to be declared.

“You want me to take him?” Kane inquired. Not only was he the one with a driver’s license that was valid in the country, but he was also the one that drove most of the time even now, despite the fact that Isabel could drive.

“I’ve got it,” Isabel replied in a dismissive tone. She really did not want to deal with Jason, but she also did not want Kane to bother with getting into a “pissing contest” with the former football player.

Kane shrugged and decided to go play with Matteo and the twins, who were all having an argument over something that Matteo claimed was his. Isabel did not bother to break up the fight on her way out, only reminding Kane where all of their first-aid things were. With that said, she and Hadrian left to go to Jason’s home.

Hadrian had directions to get to the apartment as Jason had moved in the years that they had been gone. Jason lived in a nice condo community where all of the houses looked the same. When they got to his address, Hadrian was the one that got out.

“You don’t want to come up and see him, Mommy?” Hadrian asked curiously.

“I don’t have anything to say to that man. You have business with him and that’s fine enough as it is,” Isabel replied dully.

“But, didn’t you used to be friends?” Hadrian inquired, scrunching his face up a little. He was told that Jason and Isabel had been more than that by Jason, but his mother’s attitude did not seem to back up Jason’s words.

“Something like that, but you’ll find that every friend you make cannot stay in your life for whatever reason.”

“Like Shona and Carina?” he asked curiously. It was the first analogy that came to mind and as soon as it left his mouth, he thought it was rather inappropriate. His sister and her friend could not be anything like their mother and Jason, after all.

“Well, that’s something more forced than anything else. Sometimes, people just have to part because it is the best thing for them,” Isabel explained as best she felt was necessary for her son.

Hadrian accepted that. He exited the car and walked over to the condo that Jason owned. He knocked on the door and Jason answered seconds later. Isabel stuck around just long enough to see how much Hadrian was starting to look like Jason. The sight caused her to frown; she had always hoped that as Hadrian got older, he would by some miracle begin to look like Kane. Isabel drove off before Jason spotted her.

Jason took in the sight of the boy before him. He was aware that Hadrian was now a teenager, thirteen years old. He was a tall boy for his age; he was actually taller than Kane already. His body was wide and thick with muscle already; those were more due to the physical changes brought on by the comet he and his family had been crashed by some years ago.

“Was that your mother?” Jason inquired while watching the car that Hadrian got out of pulling off.

“Yeah, that was her,” Hadrian replied.

Hearing Hadrian in person was different from hearing him on the phone and it sort of shocked Jason. There was a strange accent in the boy’s speech that Jason could not pin down. Hadrian doubted anyone would be able to pin down his accent considering the fact that it was a mix about seven different languages that he learned over the years.

“She should have come in,” Jason commented to himself more than to the boy. He had a lot of things that he wanted to show her.

“She had stuff to do,” Hadrian somewhat lied. He was aware that his mother always had a few things to do, but she did not seem interested in coming into Jason’s home.

Jason nodded. “Well, come on in. I need to get some things together before we go out.”

Hadrian nodded and stepped into Jason’s home. Jason watched, waiting to see an impressed expression to appear on his son’s face. Hadrian’s expression did not change as he cast his deep blue eyes across the living room. Jason did not know it, but the size of a house would never impress Hadrian considering all the places that he had seen and stayed at while he was overseas.

“Let me show you my new little toy,” Jason said, hitting Hadrian in his solid and wide chest.

“Okay,” the teen agreed with a nod.

Jason led Hadrian into a room passed the living room, where Hadrian did not glance at the leather furniture or large entertainment system. The room that they entered appeared to be an office. There was a large, messy desk with a computer on it. Hadrian craned an eyebrow to that.

“You use a computer?” Hadrian asked curiously.

“Sometimes. I need it to help with business,” Jason replied, trying his best to sound normal. “Do you have a computer?”

“We left the ones we had back in Italy. We’ll probably get more soon,” Hadrian stated, sounding almost bored. They had had a couple of computers, but they mostly interested his father, which immediately meant that Sheshona was interested. It was just something else that Kane and Sheshona indulged in that Hadrian believed he was locked out of, like comic drawing. It never occurred to him that he never joined in when Kane and Sheshona were going on about the computers they had.

Jason was a little taken back by the casual manner that Hadrian spoke about having computers. He knew that it was getting more and more common for people to have them, but he did not expect Hadrian to have more than one. _What the hell does Isabel do for money? What does that runt that she was married to do?_

“Well, this is what I wanted to show you,” Jason said as he picked up his brand new cell phone.

“My dad has one of those,” Hadrian commented almost immediately.

“Your what?” Jason asked with an arched eyebrow. There was some bite in his tone, too.

“Kane,” Hadrian corrected himself.

“That’s right. How’s that shrimp been treating you? He obviously hasn’t taken you to get a haircut or anything,” Jason remarked while motioning to Hadrian’s wild mop of ebony locks.

Hadrian had grown his hair out to the point where it came down to his shoulder blades, making it the same length as Kane’s hair. His hair did not flare out as wildly as his father’s did, but it was enough to catch Jason’s eye. Jason was the type of man that always wore his hair short and combed straight back; anything other than that was worn by subversives in his opinion.

“We can go for haircuts today too,” Jason said.

Hadrian nodded. He supposed that he was due for a haircut, even though he did like being able to pull his hair into a ponytail, but by the time he was at the barber, Jason had convinced him of the evils of long hair. Apparently, only gays, delinquents, criminals, drug addicts, bums, and people that did not care about their appearance had long hair if Jason was to be believed.

Hadrian could believe it for the simple fact that he knew Kane did not give much of a damn about how he looked, mostly because he had already impressed the woman that he was chasing. Hadrian knew that he had a lot of people in his life that he would still have to impress, so he figured that having short, neat hair would be the better decision. After all, Jason insisted that such a hairstyle let people know he was successful, which was a way to catch the attention of others.

“So, what does Kane do for a living to have so many things?’ Jason asked curiously, sitting next to Hadrian and getting his hair trimmed.

“Nothing right now,” Hadrian replied. His father had plenty of hobbies, but nothing that could be classified as “doing it for a living.” Some of those hobbies brought on money and, of course, there was his business, but Hadrian rarely thought about that enough to mention it.

“So, how does he afford all of that stuff? Does Isabel buy it?”

“Sometimes Mommy buys stuff.”

“And what does Isabel do?” Jason asked, making sure to keep his tone even, even though he was eager to know that information. The last time he was fully aware of her making money, she was involved in illegal fighting.

“Mostly fighting,” Hadrian replied vaguely.

Jason took the response to mean that Isabel was doing the same thing that she always did. He did not understand how they could afford the things Hadrian said they had then. He wondered if the boy was making that up for respect. He would not put it passed a teenager to do such a thing. He felt like he knew what he wanted to do next with his son, so when they were done with their haircuts, he went out to buy Hadrian a suit.

“You should always look your best. Dress for success,” Jason told the boy. Hadrian nodded in agreement. After buying the suit, they went to the movies and Jason drove Hadrian home after that.

The pair said their goodbyes and Hadrian went into the house. The sound of the door opening alerted the household to Hadrian’s return and prompted them all to scream out their greeting to him. Despite the warm greeting, Hadrian felt upset that no one moved from where they were to come see him personally. He marched up to his bedroom with a scowl on his face.

He went passed Sheshona’s room and barely noticed that she had her door open for the first time since they arrived home. She poked her head out of the room to speak to him, but he ignored her and went to his own room, shutting the door behind him. She shrugged and went back to doing what she was doing before, drawing a portrait of Carina that she planned to mail to her friend. It was a suggestion from her father that was certainly picking her spirits up.

Drawing eased her nerves, but drawing Carina made her feel even better. It reminded her that she had a friend in the world. It made sure that she did not forget a detail in her friend’s fond face. She did think that she was going to have to get better at drawing from life, but she even liked the practice that Carina’s gentle face gave her.

“It still isn’t good enough to send to her,” Sheshona thought to herself, so she decided to keep working on it. She knew that practice made perfect. 

-8-8-8-8-

The first time that the group got called in to help a situation was overwhelming to all of the children, even Hadrian who swore he was so mature. They sort of stood there gawking when ordered to stop a tank driven by some lunatic that was hell bent on destroying Go City for a reason that he did not bother to disclose. Kane was the only one that went into action for the first minute.

“It’s like a comic book,” the twins whispered in awe. _We’re just like superheroes!_ It helped that they were wearing masks and everything; Kane wanted some piece of privacy for himself and the kids. The kids just thought that the masks made things even cooler because they had secret identities now. They were all wearing some Japanese animal masks that they brought while abroad, so they sort of looked like they were ready to go to Japanese festival than fight crime. 

“This is so cool …” Hadrian muttered. His face was hidden by a white and blue bear mask.

“I hope I’m on TV!” Matteo thought with a squeal as he scanned the area for television cameras. His eyes moved frantically behind his white and purple raccoon mask.

Sheshona was so overwhelmed that she could not form a thought to mumble like her brothers. She just stared at the tank that they were supposed to be stopping; her stunned expression obscured by a white and green cat mask. Her eyes tried to spot her father, but even her sharp eyes could not see him moving around.

“A little help, guys!” Kane called to his children while trying to figure out if he could get into the tank somehow. He was wearing a white and yellow bird mask to hide his face.

The sound of their father’s voice broke them out of their trances. They were supposed to do something that stopped the tank and save the day! They wasted no time in springing into action to help their father.

The twins made a barricade of clones to stop the tank and hide their eldest brother. The tank did continue forward, which the team actually expected. When it got close enough, Hadrian charged out of nowhere and flipped over his baby brothers. His body glowed a deep cerulean and his fist impacted the tank with the same force as … another tank. The machined was halted right in its tracks.

Before the driver had a chance to fully realize what was going on, Sheshona came out of nowhere, also flipping over the twins. As soon as she landed, she leaped onto Hadrian’s shoulders and flung her hand out toward the canon of the tank, letting loose a small, purple-glowing object, which happened to be Matteo. He managed to catch the end of the gun and flung him inside.

Sheshona proceeded to vault off of her brother’s shoulders to the top of the tank. Hadrian followed. They made their way to the entrance of the tank. Sheshona’s hands flared their emerald glow and she cut through the metal like shears through a bush. Hadrian then ripped the top off. They peered inside just as Matteo made his appearance, slipping into the cab with the criminal mastermind driving, who looked like an average guy. The average guy who was surrounded by a family of superhero maniacs that thought they were in a comic book.

“Do us the favor of not surrendering so we can have a big fight scene!” Sheshona implored him.

“Yeah, that would be so cool!” Matteo agreed.

“Who the hell are you guys?” the driver demanded to know.

The kids were stumped by that question. Their confusion allotted him enough time to leap out of the tank and pull a gun, aiming at the pair on top of the tank. Before he got a chance to fire, Kane seemed to appear out of thin air in front of him, slapping the pistol out of his hand.

“This would be the part where you give up or I break every bone in your body for aiming a gun at them,” Kane said with a serious growl. The glint in his eyes was clear, even though they were sort of obstructed by his mask.

The man trembled in fear with a confused look on his face from the look in Kane’s golden eyes. He took off down the street, making it almost a full yard before slamming right into Kane’s chest. He fell back and crashed onto the asphalt. Kane glared down at him.

“You’re not making this any better, you know?” Kane commented with another snarl.

The criminal was going to try to get up and run again, but he saw that he was surrounded, pretty much by an army of Wegoes. He seemed to know that everything was done as his shoulders slumped and he dropped his head. The kids erupted into cheers.

“We won!”

The attention that they got afterwards tickled the boys quite a bit. Sheshona got caught up in the flare for a moment, but was not as into it as her brothers. Hadrian decided to give an interview that was not asked for, but allowed.

“That’s right, you don’t mess with Team Go, the defenders of Go City! Masters of Justice!” Hadrian declared while making a fist and flexing his muscles for the camera. “All criminals learn and fear us! Straighten up and follow the paths of righteousness or you’ll be brought down by us!”

“Is he ever going to shut up?” Wen whispered to Sheshona. Now that the action was done, the twins were ready to go home.

“Fuck if I know,” she replied with a shrug.

Hadrian actually went on for almost two minutes about “Team Go.” His siblings had not been consulted on that name, as he just blurted it out. They were fine with it because that was the name that they used when they used to pretend to be superheroes, but they would have liked to talk it over before they were permanently branded “Team Go.”

Aside from the interview, the kids made it a point to yell into the news cameras and they made a lot of weird gestures. The twins stuck their tongues out, only to have the sights blocked by their fox masks. They were only pulled away when Kane threatened to call their mother if they did not get out of there now.

-8-8-8-8-

“Mommy! Mommy! It was so cool!” Wen said while bouncing around Isabel, who was in the kitchen and being crowed by the younger three kids.

“There was this huge tank!” Wes hollered while making a gesture with his arms to illustrate his point.

“That I stopped all by myself!” Matteo declared, puffing out his chest and pointing to himself.

“Since when?!” the twins shouted in disbelief as they turned their attention to their glory-stealing brother.

“Since I’m the freaking emperor!” Matteo replied. “I do what I want!”

“That’s just a stupid nickname, you moron!” Wes pointed out while his twin made a clone that was closest to Matteo and kicked the purple-haired boy in the shin.

“Ah! You little bastard!” Matteo screamed as he leaned down to rub his bruised leg.

“I get the feeling I’m not going to hear the end of the story,” Isabel muttered as the younger three got into a fight. Kane walked over to watch and nodded in agreement.

“Well, you won’t be getting it from them anyway,” Kane remarked.

“Would you care to enlighten me then?” Isabel asked as the boys’ rumble moved to the dining room. She just followed them out with her eyes.

“It was nothing big. Whatever you saw on the news was what happened,” Kane answered with a slow, dismissive wave of his hand.

“That was interesting. It’s always fun to watch them work as a team. Who would ever think that they’re like this?” Isabel motioned to the on-going fight in the dining room. She figured that it would go on until they got bored; they definitely inherited their father’s attention span.

“Speaking of that tornado, where’s the other two?” Kane wondered aloud.

“I saw them going upstairs. Since I don’t hear any cursing or loud banging, I’m going to assume they’re getting along or at least not bothering each other,” Isabel remarked. Her husband nodded; there was always the other alternative that one of them had finally killed the other, but he doubted it would come to that after such a thrilling fight.

“Remember when they used to get along all the freaking time? How great was that?” Kane asked.

Isabel shrugged. “They’re both going through growing pains right now. They’re in awkward phases of life at the same time. We should just be happy that Shona isn’t menstruating yet.”

Kane made a horrified face. “Ah! Bella, I never want to think of her like that!”

-8-8-8-8-

“How do you like this design?” Sheshona asked Hadrian as she passed him her sketchbook. They were in her bedroom and she was sitting on her made bed.

“You can’t do better than this?” he countered while looking at the sketch for a second and flinging the book back at her in a way that allowed it to spin perfectly on her side.

“Why don’t you design it then? You draw, too,” she retorted, catching the book with almost no effort at all. She had quickly sketched a uniform design at the request or her big brother; it was a design she liked.

Hadrian frowned and glared at her. _She knows damn well that she draws a million times better than I ever will_ , he bitterly thought. _She was just being a bitch_ , as she had a habit of doing … in his opinion anyway. He refused to say those words, though.

“You’re the girl. You know all about fashion and shit,” Hadrian said flippantly, waving his hand somewhat.

“Fuck you!” Sheshona countered in a hard tone.

“Oh, you mean to tell me you didn’t get all girly and into fashion while you were with Carina? I know that’s what normal girls talk about and she made you a normal girl, didn’t she? Isn’t that why you wanted to stay with her over us?” he snapped much harder than he intended to.

There were things eating at him, he suddenly realized and much of those things did not have names for him to put to them. He wondered for a moment, _am I pissed with Carina for stealing my sister? Or am I upset with Sheshona for choosing Carina over me? Which one of them am I pissed at?_ He was not sure and he did not get much time to ponder those things.

“Get out!” Sheshona screamed at the top of her lungs while throwing a pillow at her big brother.

Hadrian flung the pillow aside; it hit the wall with a soft thud. The pair glared at each other with an intensity that would be felt between bitter enemies. Sheshona felt her heart tighten with some emotion that she could not ponder and it caused her such a pain that she nearly winced.

“Make me get out,” Hadrian said in a daring tone while making a fist and flexing his bicep.

Sheshona’s expression fell into a dark look that would have made a dragon flee. Her brother did not back down. Sheshona climbed to her feet.

“You think you can beat me? You forget that I’m the big brother around here and you’re the little girl that’s too busy crying over her lost friend to do anything cool!” Hadrian declared.

Sheshona was silent, but her body was shaking. Hadrian face grew haughty and a laughing smirk edged its way onto his mouth. She took a few approaching steps.

“You’re shaking, Shona. You don’t want to fight your big brother. You know I could beat you with or without powers and that scares the shit out of you,” Hadrian stated soundly. “Why don’t you just sit down and cry about Carina like you usually do.”

A green aura seemed to engulf Sheshona’s whole body and flare, roaring like a dragon. She had never felt such an impossible fury; it hurt her chest, almost like it broke her ribs with its pressure. Hadrian actually gulped as she got close to him.

Hadrian barely saw the next move coming and put his arm up to block. Words could not describe the next thing that he felt as her hand impacted his forearm. It was as if she smashed his whole body with one blow, forcing him out of her room; thankfully the door was open or they would have been in trouble by their parents. He slammed into the wall, able to brace himself enough to not ruin the wall. He looked up just in time to see the door shut in his face.

“What the hell was that? When did she get such power?” Hadrian wondered aloud with a wide-eyed expression. “How the hell is she stronger than I am now?!” _Does she have to steal everything that I take pride in?! Why does she keep doing this to me?_

-8-8-8-8-

Sheshona stared down at her fists, which were still glowing green. Her body felt as if it was made of light. She had felt that before, times that she spent practicing with her parents; the same times that Hadrian busied himself calling Jason and staying on the phone for hours on end. Matteo had expressed feeling something similar in his practices, but his parents suspected that he would not go quite as far as his other siblings as he sometimes shrugged off his practices as if they were beneath him.

Sheshona saw how her fists were shaking, knowing that she was still upset with her beloved big brother. _Why did he say such things to me? Why did he have to insult my dearest Carina?_

She shook the thoughts away, throwing herself onto her bed. She grabbed her sketchbook, hoping to draw and ease her mind. Perhaps she could draw Carina again, one worthy of sending to her friend. First, she considered practicing.

-*-(New day)-*-

Kane was inside the walk-in closet in his bedroom. He was on his side and searching for something in the back, bottom corner of the closet. He went through the dozens of shoeboxes; most of the boxes there were because of Isabel constantly buying him shoes for when they went out. He tried telling her that a guy did not need as many pairs of shoes as a woman, but she did not seem to believe him, or so her spending habits implied. But, a couple of boxes were mixed in with those for his own purposes.

“Oh, man, where the hell are they?” Kane groaned. He knew that if his Bella found that box, she would kill him, despite his reasons for having it. “Where the hell is it!?”

 _Oh, man, what if she already found the box_ , he thought with dread. His head hurt already thinking about the lashing that she was sure to give him. _She’ll kill me. She’ll kill me and eat me!_ An option even worse than that would be if one of the kids found them and then Isabel found out from them. _She would kill him, eat him, vomit him back up, and salt the earth where he fell!_

“Dammit, I have to find that box!” Kane hissed as he took off, eyes glowing pure gold and an aura of yellow surrounding him.

Kane had never used his speed outside of training and now crime fighting, but this was an emergency! He needed to find that box before Isabel did!

The first place he checked was Hadrian’s room; he was a teenage boy, after all. Hadrian was not home, nor were the other kids. They all had school, so he had time to make his search. He just hoped he did not come across anything that he really did not want to know about while looking for his own secret.

Hadrian’s room was clear. Next he went to Matteo. He supposed at Matteo’s age, it was possible that he took the box. He was more than likely curious about things.

Matteo’s room was clean, too. He supposed the twins could have taken the box. He was not sure why. They seemed too simple to entertain at their age to think about the things he had in that box. Still, he checked again. Their shared room was clear.

“Dammit. Where could that box possibly be?!” Kane wondered aloud with a panicked look on his face.

He knew that he had to find it soon. He did not have much time. Isabel was training now, but she always stopped an hour before the kids would be home. He needed to find his prize now.

“Okay, maybe I just left them somewhere. Did I have them in the game room? No, why the hell would I have them there? I’d be too busy playing pinball to care. At the pool? No, we all gather at the pool. Bella would see them. I never take them out of the room. Somebody else had to take them, but who? Maybe Bella hid them or threw them away!” he considered.

He ran to the trash and got to know it in a more thorough manner than he would have liked, but still no box. He also checked the trash outside and got the same result. He searched the whole house four times. All except for one room anyway.

“Would Shona really have taken them?” he asked himself while standing at her door.

He supposed it was worth a shot. He did not see why she would take them, though. He zipped into her room and made a quick search. He was stunned when he came to fighting gear, things that only she would ever touch in her room because Isabel did preach that martial arts were sacred to the individual as well as the group. He would get pounded if Isabel ever knew that he went through Sheshona’s gear, but he needed to find that damn box.

And there it was! Sitting at the bottom of a pile of hand and foot guards in her open trunk, looking like a plain shoebox. He grinned and plucked it from its resting place. He practically danced out of the room and bumped right into the last person he wanted to see.

“Kane, why are you taking that box out of Shona’s room?” Isabel asked curiously. Usually, she would not question her husband’s odd behavior, but this was extremely weird. They almost never went into the kids’ rooms while the children were out.

“Uh …” Kane surprisingly could not think of a lie fast enough. _To hell with super-speed! It was useless!_ “It’s mine! She borrowed! Nothing more!” The nervous grin on his face practically trembled.

“Let me see that,” Isabel ordered, putting a hand out for it.

“You don’t want to see it! Boring! Stupid! It’s … it’s …” _Dammit, what the fuck does Isabel have no interest in?_ “It’s comics!”

“You don’t keep your comics in a shoebox,” Isabel pointed out. _My poor, sweet, unable-to-lie well husband_ , she thought.

 _Fuck!_ Okay, he did not keep his comics in a shoebox, not to mention Sheshona would never borrow comics from him. They all owned the same comics if they liked them. Other comics, they would never think to borrow if they did not read them. Even if they got curious, they would just go out and buy their own; they always wanted things of their own, after all.

Isabel’s expression dropped into a deadpan as she saw the panic in her husband’s golden eyes. She imagined that he was so worked up that he was not even aware that he left telltale signs that he was using his powers in the house. This behavior, along with him carrying a box out of Sheshona’s room, could not be ignored.

“Give me the box, Kane,” Isabel ordered, holding out her hand. 

Kane opened his mouth, ready to object, but nothing good was ready to come out. He just admitted defeat and handed over the box, sighing and bowing his head while he was at it. She wasted no time taking the top off and she growled as she saw what was in there.

“Kane, what the hell are you doing with these kinds of magazines!?” Isabel demanded as she shot him a dangerous glare.

“I use them for drawing! I swear!” Kane promised while putting his hands up with the hope of warding off at least some of the blows that he was sure to come.

“Like hell you do!” Isabel roared and then she bashed him in the head with her fist. He fell to the floor and she was about to stomp on him, but then she stopped. “Why the hell were they in Shona’s room?” she wondered aloud with a craned eyebrow.

“Hell if I know,” he admitted. “Maybe she was using them to draw, too,” he supplied with a smile.

Isabel stepped on her husband several times. “Don’t say such stupid, useless things.”

“I’m only trying to help!” he replied with a slight gag.

“No, you’re just being an idiot. I suppose we’ll just have to ask Shona.”

“I’m not asking! This sounds like some serious mother-daughter thing here!” Kane pointed out. He really just wanted to forget that his box had ended up in Sheshona’s room and that his wife had ever seen the box.

Isabel was not quite ready to let it go. Sheshona was in for a surprise when she got home. She certainly was not expecting to find her parents sitting in her room on her bed with a familiar box that she remembered stealing from the back of her father’s closet. She gulped, but other than that made it a point to look upset.

“Why are you in my room?” Sheshona demanded with as much steel in her voice as she could muster.

“For someone that enters our room as freely as can be, it’s a shame that you cannot return the favor,” Isabel commented.

Sheshona rolled her eyes. “It’s different. If you want to treat us the same, then you’ll force me to say something unspeakable,” she remarked, glancing at Kane.

Isabel’s eyes shined in amusement; her daughter was gaining quite the quick wit. The implications behind the quip would have worried or disgusted any other mother that could comprehend it, but Isabel laughed on the inside. Han blood was strong in Sheshona; that was her Han blood that snapped at Isabel and that made her beloved daughter want to bite her so deeply.

“Be that as it may, you can say what you like as it would always only be a sentence. The truth of it is nothing more than a disturbed wish on your part,” Isabel replied coolly.

“Mommy, get the hell out of my room,” Sheshona ordered while rolling her eyes. She pointed behind her, out of the door, with her thumb.

“Where’d you get this box?” Isabel inquired, holding up the shoebox in her possession.

“Up your ass,” Sheshona remarked.

Isabel chuckled and got up from the bed. She went to stand by Sheshona, who tried to walk by. Isabel stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. The girl wisely remained still.

“Let’s try this one more time,” Isabel said. “And let me make this one plain to you, I will only throw back what you throw at me.”

Kane decided to get up. He would rather get through this moment than watch one of those “darling” mother/daughter moments that Isabel and Sheshona shared. Ones that usually ended with Sheshona needing bandages, but oddly enough, he thought those were the times that they seemed to show their deepest love and appreciation for each other. Sometimes, he thought that they got so emotional while they battled that they looked ready to cry on each other. He supposed it was some “Han” thing that he did not get.

“Shona, you’ve been using these things to draw?” Kane inquired while putting his hands in his pockets. It was his most nonchalant stance.

“Yeah,” Sheshona admitted.

“Where’d you get that idea?” he asked curiously.

“Well, you told me to draw people from magazines to try and get a better feel for anatomy. Martial arts magazines helped, but I wanted some different poses. I looked through your room for magazines and found those along with some others. Those are better because I get to see the anatomy. I did a lot of practicing. Do you want to see?” Sheshona begged in her own special way, which sounded sort of like an order to see her art book.

Kane nodded and Sheshona bounced away from her mother to get her sketchbook. She opened it to the back and showed him the life drawing she did. Some of them were martial artists posing, but others were of the things in his magazines, nude women posing. The poses were quite different and provided practice he was certain. He did not feel so bothered by things now that he saw Sheshona had indeed taken the books for art.

“You’re getting very good, Shona,” Kane said with a small, proud smile.

“I’ve even done some of Carina. Look at these,” Sheshona said while turning to some pages in the middle of the book.

Kane nodded. “You did this without a picture?”

“Right from memory. Do you think they look like her?”

“Very much so. You’re a great artist, Shona. I hope you never give this up,” Kane said.

Sheshona nodded and with that her parents left her alone. They went back to their room, Isabel still holding Kane’s precious box. He grinned at her.

“I’m not getting that back, am I?” he asked curiously.

“Nope,” she simply replied.

“But, I do draw from them! I’ll show you!”

He made a mad dash to find his most recent sketchbook. He flipped it open to show her his work. She could see that he had been drawing, undoubtedly from the magazines that were in her arms, but she did not look impressed or particularly sympathetic to his cause.

“You’re still not getting it back,” Isabel stated.

“What?! Why?! It’s for research purposes on anatomy! You can’t possibly think I need to look at naked women when I could just as easily have you that way!” he pointed out.

“Any other time, I would believe you, Kane. But, I do know how boys are,” she remarked with a smirk.

Kane pouted and went into one of his overly dramatic tantrums. “Why do you have such little faith in me!” he screamed while dropping to his knees and pretended to cry.

“Because, if you’re a particularly good boy, maybe when the kids are at school, I’ll let you replace your books with something else,” she replied with a sly smile.

Kane was pretty sure his heart stopped at those words; thirteen years and she still had such an affect on him. He gulped and looked up to meet her gaze. The smirk on her face restarted his heart, but made it beat twice as face.

“Bella, this would be quite the cruel tease,” he pointed out.

“If only it was such,” she retorted.

“You are too wonderful, Bella,” he commented with a smile as he climbed to his feet and took her in his arms. He held off on doing anything more until they were secure behind their own bedroom door. 

-8-8-8-8-

Sheshona lay in her bed when the rest of the house was supposed to be sleeping. She stared at a magazine; one stolen from her father. She flipped through them.

“All the girls always talk about boys …” Sheshona muttered to herself. It was the curse to be in the seventh grade. “They never realize how beautiful they are … or will become. Girls and women are better than boys. Carina, do you look like this? Will you look like this soon? Will I? Why does the thought of seeing you like this make my heart race?” she asked the air.

Sheshona had found herself drawn to these pictures ever since she found them in her father’s closet. She really had been looking for magazines to practice on, but her eyes focused on these images in a way that had nothing to do with her art. The pictures made her tight in certain places, uncomfortable almost and she would squirm in her bed until the feelings went away.

“Something is wrong with me … isn’t it?” Sheshona wondered aloud with a somewhat sorrowful smile on her face.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Sheshona drifts further from her big brother and best friend. She also gets her first kiss.


	27. Highs and lows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, nor Wen; Disney does. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Jennifer.

26: Highs and lows

By the time Hadrian made it into high school, Team Go was rather popular around the city. They had their own costumes, designed somewhat by Sheshona, Kane, and Matteo, with help from other agencies that knew their secret. They ditched the large festival masks for sleeker and smaller designs. They all had costume colors that were based on their glows. There was even talk of making a Go Tower as their headquarters because they were doing such a good job.

Of course, when Hadrian got into high school, no one knew that he was a member of Team Go. He earned his popularity there the old fashion way: by becoming a jock. Jason had told him all sorts of tales about his football glory days, before he injured his leg, and how good he was. Hadrian decided that he would become a football player, too. 

Hadrian had never really played organized sports. Yes, he had played games and things with his family, but nothing ever official. Making the junior varsity football team was not all that hard for him, though. He was already a big young man at the tender age of fourteen, nearly six feet tall and roughly a hundred and eighty pounds of raw muscle. He was a hard boy to stop once he got the ball in his hands; too bad he could not catch too well with a helmet obstructing his view. He was fine for getting the ball out of a hike and running, though.

During his freshman year with football, it was also discovered that he was good on defense. He caught people easily and was able to bring them down without a problem thanks to his size. He was a little superstar on the JV squad and led the team to an undefeated season.

Academically, he did well freshman year, too. Now, he knew for a fact that it was necessary for him to do well in school as far as his grades went because he got the impression that his mother would bite his head off if he did otherwise. After all, she was a perfectionist when it came to their martial arts, so he, as well, as his siblings, believed that she was a perfectionist as far as school went, too. None of them dared to bring home a mark below an eighty-five. Hell, Matteo got an eighty once and cried so badly that his teacher changed the mark before Matteo showed the report card to his parents.

“High school is the best,” Hadrian boasted, speaking to Sheshona while they sparred in the backyard.

“How so?” she asked while ducking his punch. She knew that she could not wait to get out of junior high. The girls were just too boy crazy and the boys were just plain crazy in her opinion. She was back to being socially isolated because she really did not want to deal with any of her peers. None of them measured up to what she wanted in a friend.

“I’ve got a ton of friends and everything. I’m getting taken out to dinner because of my football season—” He was cut off there.

“Who’s taking you to dinner?”

“My father.”

“Daddy never said anything taking you to dinner,” Sheshona pointed out. If playing football got Kane to dish out free dinners, she wanted in on that deal. Not that she knew their father to be very interested in sports at all.

“I said my father. Jason,” he corrected his sister while thinking that she was rather dim for assuming he was talking about Kane.

Sheshona looked quite confused. “Since when do you call him your father?”

“He is my father,” Hadrian stated plainly.

Sheshona looked skeptical on that. “Daddy is your father, you fucking moron. If he wasn’t, why the fuck would he treat you just like the rest of us?” she pointed out.

“He doesn’t sometimes.”

Sheshona actually stopped moving altogether to look at her brother as if he was a total idiot. She walked off after that because she saw that he was serious; she decided that she did not even want to deal with that kind of stupidity. Hadrian was a little confused.

“Hey, where you going? Mommy told us to practice!” Hadrian reminded her.

Sheshona kept on going, though. She might actually have to stop talking to her big brother if he was going to let such stupid things coming out his mouth, she considered. _What the hell is that guy Jason teaching Hadrian when they hung out with each other? Why’s he making my brother so fucking stupid?_ She doubted that she really wanted to know.

Hadrian actually did plenty of things with Jason, like go camping and hunting. They went camping after going out to dinner to celebrate his football season. It was not something new to Hadrian; Kane took them camping a lot. The difference between Jason’s trip and Kane’s usual trips was that hunting was not involved in Kane’s trips; he imagined that Isabel would kick his ass if he ever came home with a dead deer carcass. Of course, Kane never showed any interest in collecting a dead deer carcass, but Jason seemed to be all about that.

“What’s wrong?” Jason asked Hadrian in a curious tone as they loaded their rifles. He noticed the way the teen was staring down at the gun.

Hadrian was about to say that he had horrible experiences with guns, having been shot at a few times while abroad. He had seen with his own eyes the terror that a gun could inflict. He had done horrible things to men with guns, who were pointing the business end of the weapon at his siblings. He stared at his rifle with intense blue eyes as if it was the worst thing possible that he could hold, but he did not express that in words.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Hadrian replied in a distant tone.

“Good. Let’s go bag a deer,” Jason proclaimed with a grin on his face.

Hadrian nodded; internally, he had to admit that he was not so excited about shooting something. He dared to wonder, _what Daddy would think of me if he knew I was out here shooting deer?_ _What would Mommy think of me shooting at a deer? Something that never did anything to me, can’t defend itself, and I probably won’t even eat. What would my brothers think? What would Sheshona think?_ The questions plagued him for the whole time to the point that he did not take a single shot, even when Jason was screaming at him to shoot. They had several chances to take home a deer, but Hadrian blew all of them.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jason said as they settled down at their campfire and he could see how dejected Hadrian was. “We didn’t need to bag a deer, anyway.” He did not want the boy to feel like a failure, even though he had messed up the whole hunting part of the trip.

“Cool,” Hadrian replied, feeling just a bit better right now. He was a little upset with himself because he could see disappointment in eyes that were so much like his own. He guessed that he should have shot the deer. He could not bring himself to do it, though.

The rest of the trip was enjoyable for Hadrian. He got a chance to be around Jason without having to worry about his siblings, especially Sheshona, coming in to steal his thunder. He got all of the attention.

“So, your mom throw you a big bash for doing so good in football?” Jason asked curiously as they started packing up to return to city.

“Nah. Mommy doesn’t care much about sports and stuff unless it’s martial arts,” Hadrian replied. He had to give his mother a little credit, she tried at first to understand football when he started, but it just seemed to go over her head no matter how simple he thought it was.

Jason nodded. “Same old Isabel. She never really got football when I played, no matter how many times I explained it to her. What about her husband?”

“D—Kane, well, he’s not too good at sports. He’ll play, but he’s more naturally athletic than anything else,” the boy answered honestly. He and his brothers called Kane so many names whenever he played sports with them. He tried so hard, but man, he sucked so much. He at least was able to pick up some of the things about football, though, and tried to talk to Hadrian about it. It was just obvious most of the time that he really did not know what he was talking about.

“That’s not right. This is a major accomplishment. We have to do something else for you besides this,” Jason declared.

Hadrian smiled and nodded. He liked the sound of that. He would later tell Sheshona that he was going to an amusement park, just him “with his father.” He said it so smugly that she really wanted to deck him in the chest for it because she believed that he was completely disrespecting their daddy.

-8-8-8-8-

“Why does he always have to act like such a moron when it comes to that man?” Sheshona wondered aloud, staring at her bedroom ceiling. She was actually on the phone with her still dear friend Carina.

“Well, personally, I think he’s always been a moron for a while now, but that’s just me,” Carina remarked.

Carina’s voice was like silk, as far as Sheshona was concerned. The sound just made her want to melt on command. She wondered what Carina looked like now. She imagined that she was starting to fill out or had already done so like so many thirteen-year-olds that Sheshona knew. She had actually yet to change much, aside for growing taller. She was taller than her father by a couple of inches now.

“He’s that way when it comes to Jason. I don’t see what’s so great about the guy. He took Hadrian to do ‘manly’ stuff. The hell is so manly about camping? We do it all the time. Sure, Mommy refuses to come a lot of the time, but hell, recently even my aunt Victoria comes. My grandma even came once,” Sheshona stated.

“You go camping? You’re such a tomboy, little artist,” Carina teased, making it easy to guess that she was smiling from the. She gathered from the moment of silence that she got her usual reaction of Sheshona blushing just a little from the taunt.

“Knowing you, you’ve been going to balls and things like that,” Sheshona managed to counter after more seconds of silence than she liked.

“Well, I went to a school dance at the end of the year,” Carina confessed. She would hate to think of how much her friend would taunt her if she went into even more detail. Sheshona always swore that she carried herself as if she was a princess. It was quite funny now that she thought about since Sheshona was the one with noble blood.

“You did?” Sheshona did not mean to sound as shocked as she did, but it was too late for her to correct her tone. “Who’d you go with?” she asked, biting the inside of her lip. No answer was going to make the burning sensation in her stomach go away and she was well aware of that.

“This boy. He was kind of boring. I wish you were here, then I could have just gone with you.”

Sheshona would have liked to feel good about that answer, but she focused on the fact that Carina had gone out with a boy. She knew what thirteen-year-old boys thought about. Her big brother was thirteen only a year ago and she hung around a lot of boys at school; most of whom she met through her big brother. Some slimy thirteen-year-old boy took her dearest Carina to a dance! They had gone on a date!

“Have you seen anymore of this … boy?” Sheshona inquired, her voice tense and hoarse from rage and fear. How she wished that she was the one with super speed, so that she could run to Italy now and win back her best friend!

“I went to Rome with him on one occasion,” Carina continued her confession. It certainly felt like a confession, too. She wondered if she would have to do penance by the time the conversation ended.

Sheshona swallowed hard at that admission. _Why’s Carina doing this to me?_ Twisting her insides with barbed gloves and killing her on the inside. She wanted to throw up thanks to the mixed number of emotions racing through her system.

“You dated this nameless boy?” Sheshona inquired, voice now trembling from so many emotions. The fact that Carina had left out his name led her to believe that Carina was trying to hide more of the relationship.

“We went out a few times, nothing more,” she admitted, as if she was trying to defend actions by adding the “nothing more.”

Sheshona was sure that her heart was devoured by a dark demon that she was not even aware dwelled into her body. She was so upset that she hung up on Carina without another word. Carina called back, as expected, probably thinking they had been disconnected for whatever reason. Sheshona did not take the call.

It took a few weeks for Sheshona to take calls from Carina again. In that time, she had tried her best to think of other things. She mostly looked at dirty magazines; she had taken to stealing them from convenient stores and newsstands because that really was the only way for her to get new ones. She thought the images would take her mind off of Carina, but eventually, Carina consumed her mind and she had to talk to her best friend again.

“Shona, have you been ignoring me?” Carina whined into the phone.

“Of course not! I’ve just been really busy,” Sheshona lied. If stealing porn and gawking at it counted as busy, then yes, she was the busiest girl on the planet.

“Oh, you’re still being a superhero then, I guess?” Carina asked politely. It would seem that she brought the excuse that her best friend was selling.

“I am. We’re pretty good,” Sheshona admitted. They had a lot of fun being heroes, too. She sometimes wished that they could let the world know who they are, so that they would be more popular, but she supposed that their alter egos would have to do as far as popularity went. They were all quite stupid enough to run around with the same code names that they used as children playing games; she suspected that some old friends probably knew who they were.

“I’m sure you are. I’m glad for your happiness, dearest friend,” Carina said in a gentle tone.

Sheshona was quiet for a moment. “I hope you the same.”

“I am as happy as I can be away from you. I wished that we could see each other this summer.”

“Me too …” Sheshona admitted in a mumble. She longed to see Carina and she was vaguely aware that she longed to do other things, but she refused to guess what those things were. She was weird enough for looking at dirty magazines, she figured.

“If only my parents would have said we were going to be touring Australia of all places earlier. You would have been able to come, wouldn’t you?” Carina asked, some sadness seeping into her voice, making Sheshona believe that she truly was missed.

“Yeah, probably.”

“Well, I suppose we will always have the next vacation. I had so many plans for us to do,” Carina practically cooed. She sounded sincere again, but Sheshona was nagged by questions of her friend’s social life.

“Like introducing me to the mystery man you’ve been dating?” Sheshona was surprised that she was able to bit back the bitterness and anger that she was feeling right now. It felt like Carina betrayed her, she realized.

“I’m not dating him.” Carina’s voice was hard, forceful, so unlike her usual light and elegant tone. It only made Sheshona suspect further that Carina was, indeed, dating the young man.

“But, you’ve been out with him,” the green-skinned teen pointed out, almost as if she was accusing her friend of a crime.

“Only those times I told you about. He’s not very interesting. Let’s not talk about him anymore,” Carina pled. She just wanted a nice call with her dearest friend, not to be a prisoner in an Inquisition.

Sheshona conceded because she really did not want to hear more about this boy. The thought of him with Carina on his arm caused a snarl to tug at Sheshona’s top lip. _Why do I feel such animosity_ , she wondered. It was almost like she hated this boy that she did not even know for being with her best friend, who was already so many miles away that it should not even matter.

 _Of course, Carina would hang out with other people with me gone_ , Sheshona silently reminded herself while Carina rambled on about her plans for the summer; none of which included seeing her best friend. Sheshona knew between the two of them, Carina was much more social and prone to make more friends, especially when she did not have to focus all of her energy on keeping Sheshona company. _It only makes sense for Carina to hang out with others_ , Sheshona insisted.

“Shona, are you listening to me?” Carina gently chided her best friend.

“I’m sorry. Say that again,” Sheshona requested.

Carina chuckled and happily repeated herself. The conversation from that point on was more normal, but the more they spoke after that, the more Sheshona realized how right she was. Carina spoke about going places with other friends and such as that. Sheshona only had her family to speak on; she could not even disclose much about her hero antics after a while since it was supposed to be a secret.

Freshman year in high school was nothing for Sheshona to boast about. It felt like another year of junior high to her. Sure, she made some acquaintances, as she had done in junior high, but no one touched her like Carina did. Worse still was that Hadrian would not share friends with her anymore. The only thing that she had going for her was excelling in her studies, but that did not ease the dark hole growing inside of her.

-8-8-8-8-

Sheshona sat in the lunchroom with a few people that she knew. She was sitting with them because they asked her to play cards with them. So, she was playing cards and not talking much as usual. It was all right until one of the girls had to ruin it for her. 

“Sheshona, Hadrian’s your brother, right?” one of the girls spectating on the card game asked. She was among the crew that did call Sheshona over, though.

“Yeah, so?” Sheshona replied, eyes focused on the cards and her voice was dull.

“So, you should tell him to come to lunch here one period.”

“He doesn’t have lunch this period,” Sheshona pointed out.

“He can cut. I mean, it’s not like he’s never cut before.”

Sheshona frowned; she thought that she was starting to see where this was going. Hadrian was a star football player and she was just his little sister. _Who the hell would want to hang out with me just for the hell of it aside from Carina or my brothers? No one. Not a damn soul_. Hell, Hadrian hardly wanted to be around her anymore.

“You know what, fuck you guys,” Sheshona said disdainfully as she threw her cards down and marched off.

“The hell was that about?” the girl wondered.

Sheshona would never explain what that was all about. She immediately stopped speaking with that group, but it was not the first time that something like that happened and it would not be the last. For the first time in her life, Sheshona began to think that she was somehow lesser than her big brother; not second to him or even in his shadow, but lesser than he was. Everyone only seemed to want to be near her, so that they could get to him. _Doesn’t anyone like me?_

“What kinda loser thought was that?” Sheshona demanded in a low hiss. _Since when do I even think about such bullshit?!_

Sheshona shook the thoughts off, figuring she was just flustered because things were not going the way that she would have liked. She was not too popular in high school; well, yet anyway. It was not like she was really trying. She thought that she would be able to come to high school and just hang out with Hadrian until she got comfortable, but she was learning otherwise.

It was not like her big brother was ignoring her or anything like that. She and Hadrian just had different schedules, especially since he was a year ahead of her. He told her that would happen and smiled at her while saying she needed to get used to being by herself every now and then. She did not suppose he was right at the moment, even thought their parents had actually agreed with him. She was not used to being completely alone for such a long time.

The thoughts plagued her for a while, though. _Am I so freaking dependent on Hadrian for friends and for a life? If not him, then Carina? Am I freaking so scared to stand alone? To be alone, even for a little while?_ Even when fighting crime, she always waited for brothers or her father. She frowned, thinking that she was nothing more than a follower. For fourteen years, she had done nothing but follow.

She was about to get very pissed with herself, but did not really have the chance. She was outside by then, wandering the streets aimless because she was lost in her own head. It was already getting dark; it was the winter and the days were short. What took her away from her chance at being upset with herself was the fact that she heard a scream.

Sheshona looked up to realize she was in one of the largest and more popular parks in the city; it was also a high crime area depending on the section a person was in. Sheshona, being who she was, took off in the direction of the scream. She came across a small wooded area and saw three men surrounding a young woman about her age. One of the men had a knife while the other was tugging at the woman’s purse; she seemed too scared to realize that she should just let the bag go.

“Just what I need to lift my spirits,” Sheshona commented with a smirk.

Her words got the attention of the men, just in time for the one with the knife to notice her foot slamming into his neck. He gagged and dropped the knife while she turned into another kick, striking the one tugging at the purse on his chin. Just as the last man was going to attack, she turned to him and hit him with a three-punch combo that backed him up. All the men stared at her and the chillingly confident smirk on her face.

“Please, come back for more,” Sheshona implored them.

The men obliged her, which she was happy about. She doubted that she had ever dropped multiple opponents so quickly. Her kicks came as fast as lightning and impacted her opponents with the same force as a moving truck. They did not come back at her a third round. Instead, they chose to run for their lives from the “demon girl.”

Sheshona turned her attention to the young woman that she just saved. Tears were gathered in the corners of her large brown eyes and she was visibly shaking. She suddenly threw herself at the taller Sheshona and did something totally unexpected. It seemed she chose to express her gratitude physically rather than emotionally because she placed a deep kiss on Sheshona’s lips. The fourteen-year-old was in complete shock from the actions, so much so that she was frozen in place.

When the rescued female pulled away, Sheshona was the one that beat a hasty retreat. She ran as if she was fleeing for her life. She did not stop until she got home and was safely locked away in her room.

Once she was secure in her sanctuary, Sheshona sat down at her desk and put her fingers to her lips, which seemed to be tingling with sheer delight. She licked her lips, hoping to get some sort of taste of the stranger that kissed her. It was her first kiss and she dared to think that she wanted more.

“Do all kisses taste so good?” she wondered in a whisper, too shocked to speak any louder.

She had heard girls and boys talking about kissing and she had seen more than her fair share of it, but she never really thought about it too much. All the girls ever talked about happened to be kissing boys and Sheshona never had the urge to kiss a boy. Now, she had had the urge to kiss a girl a few times and with what just happened, she felt the urge even stronger than ever.

She wondered what it would be like for her to kiss a girl: not the little wonderful peck that she had been given, but a serious kiss, something like the ones that she saw her parents sharing. She imagined that would be a pleasant experience as her father certainly liked to kiss her mother often. She would like to try kissing a girl in such a manner, and be allowed to do it often if it was as lovely as it seemed.

She closed her eyes and pictured herself kissing a girl as her father kissed her mother. She would hold the girl close and start off slow. She would draw it out for as long as possible, hoping to make the girl gasp in the end. And maybe for good measure she would squeeze the girl’s butt to see what that was all about; her father certainly enjoyed doing it to her mother.

Sheshona was taken out of her daydreams as she was called out for some serious hero business. She quickly changed into her costume and fled the house on one of the little toys Kane had brought the team for their good work: motorbikes. Isabel often proclaimed that one of them was going to break their skulls on the things; Sheshona believed that Matteo would be the one.

Crime fighting took Sheshona’s mind off of the kiss for the rest of the day. The next day at school was a different sort of thing, though. She went in as usual, ready to bored or upset, but things did not go as they normally would that day. She was sitting in math, ready to pass out, even though she was in an advanced class, and then she took note of a girl in the corner that she never really noticed before. It seemed that as soon as she noticed the girl, the girl could feel green eyes on her, turned and smiled. Sheshona gulped and quickly turned her attention to the lesson while hoping a blush did not flare up in her cheeks. After class, the girl approached her.

“Hey, Sheshona, right?” the girl asked.

“Yeah, what’s it to you?” Sheshona replied in a gruff tone, making sure to look more annoyed that she actually was.

“I want to thank you for yesterday. I didn’t mean … um … what happened. I was just a little overwhelmed. Sorry if I scared you,” she apologized in a soft voice, sounding sweet and like she was singing a lullaby as she spoke.

“It’s cool. I wasn’t scared or nothing. I just needed to get home,” Sheshona lied, making sure to throw in a nonchalant shrug to make it seem like nothing fazed her.

“Ah, the tough girl. Just what I should expect from Hadrian’s younger sister,” the girl commented, which earned her a wicked glare.

In the past, Sheshona probably would not have minded being referred to as “Hadrian’s younger sister,” but now, it pissed her off for a number of different reasons. It made her go back to thinking about the fact that she did not have her own identity and how she followed Hadrian around like his lost puppy. It also made her think about how people at school seemed think they could use her to get to her brother.

The girl flinched when she noticed Sheshona’s severe expression. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. I guess I just keep making an ass out of myself in front of you. Can we start over?” she requested, deep brown eyes pleading for a do-over.

Sheshona glanced over at the girl; her long ebony mane hid her eyes that time. “How so?”

“Well, first, let me say that my name’s Jennifer. I’m very grateful for you saving me and I’m hoping that you let me try to make it up to you without you thinking that’s too creepy of me,” the girl replied with a light chuckle.

“I don’t need you to make it up to me. I had a good time beating those goons up. I don’t care that I saved you in the process,” Sheshona replied, somewhat telling the truth. For the first time, saving the victim was secondary to her. She really just wanted to fight and take her mind off of her own problems.

The girl, Jennifer, frowned briefly. “You say that, but I don’t think you mean it. If you were so indifferent to me, you wouldn’t have run off after I did that thing to you,” she remarked with a sly smile.

“I don’t give a damn about what you did,” Sheshona huffed. Sure, she thought about it and fantasized about it, but that did not mean that she gave a damn.

Jennifer sighed and paused for a moment to think of another way of coming at the pale girl. “I just realized, you’re a freshman and yet you’re in an advanced math class. I’m a junior and I was lucky to get into that class. You must be one smart cookie,” she commented in a thoughtful tone.

Sheshona did not say anything, but she did not frown again either. She was in advance math and science classes. She had to take some tests to get into the program, but she thought it was all pretty easy. She was not sure when math and science became so easy, but apparently, she was very good at both subjects. She was no slouch in other areas, being in honors courses for her other classes, but math and science were her strongest subjects. Maybe it had to do with the fact that all she had in life was school, martial arts, and drawing, so she could devote all of her time to mastering those things.

“Maybe we could hang out a little,” Jennifer proposed.

“I’m not going to help get you closer to my brother,” Sheshona grumbled.

Jennifer chuckled. “I’m not interested in your brother. I want to hang out with you, the kid that saved my ass.”

Sheshona looked skeptical, but she really could not stop Jennifer from hanging out with her … well, not without physical persuasion and she really did not make it a point to hit someone who was not being particularly annoying. Jennifer was just trying to forcibly be her friend and it was working.

-8-8-8-8-

“Come on, Sheshona, let’s go the movies,” Jennifer insisted while pulling the younger girl down the street. She caught Sheshona right after the freshman got out of school for the day.

“But—” Sheshona tried to protest.

“I’m not listening! I’m missing a student council meeting for this! Not to mention I’m going to end up missing a study group, too! So, let’s get going!” Jennifer stated with a happy smile.

Sheshona sighed; this was the sort of thing that she had been putting up with since meeting Jennifer, almost two months ago. _Why fight it?_ At least she was certain that Jennifer wanted to hang out with her and not Hadrian considering Jennifer had not brought up Hadrian since the first time the two girls spoke to each other. She could use a friend, her brain pointed out; after all, Carina was hundreds of miles away and as far as Sheshona knew, Carina had moved on with her life with new friends, including boyfriends. Sheshona guessed that it was time for her to move on, too.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Isabel and Kane deal with their three younger children while Sheshona comes to grips with her sexuality.


	28. Out and about

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, or Wen; Disney owns them. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Jennifer.

27: Out and about

“Bye, Daddy, I’m going out with Jennifer again!” Sheshona called as she practically flew out of the house.

“Keep your communicator on in case of an emergency!” Kane replied to the fleeing girl. He hoped that she heard him, even though he was sure that none of the kids turned their communicators off. They did love saving Go City, after all.

“Daddy!” the twins howled from the basement of the house. 

“I’m coming! Stop acting so eager for me to beat your asses in this pinball challenge again!” Kane replied with a chuckle as he made his way downstairs to play with the twins.

The twins were already at one of the many pinball machines; they had a mini-arcade in the basement. Their favorite game was pinball; Isabel did not understand the appeal of the game. Kane never brought up that he knew she secretly came down into the basement sometimes to play, though. He also knew that she was not very good at it.

Kane greeted the twins with noogies, which earned shouts of protests. Wen then wailed as he realized the ball was going right down the middle of the machine and in between the gap of the flippers where it could not be reached. Wes snickered a bit at his double and then took over for his own turn on the machine.

Kane watched his sons play for a while before going onto his own game. After pinball, which they had to argue about who won, they decided to settle things by playing a fighting game. Matteo came in with Isabel while that was going on and ran off to join them.

“Ah, yes, after spending the day forcing me to buy things for him, the little emperor abandons me,” Isabel remarked, feigning hurt that Matteo did not pick up on. It was not for him, though.

“Don’t worry, I’m here for you, Bella,” Kane said, seemingly appearing by her side. The yellow rimming in his eyes let her know that he used his powers to zip over to her. His arm went around her waist immediately.

Isabel chuckled a bit to herself as she handed over the bags that she was carrying to her husband. He took them with a grin and they walked off deeper into the house. Isabel thought it was too cute that even after all these years, Kane was still so eager to help her and please her. She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek for all of his assistance, which just caused him to grin so wide that he was in danger of splitting his cheeks open.

Isabel gathered the boys, the younger three were the only ones home, and took them out for some martial arts practice. She focused more on the younger pair as Matteo was starting to show signs of breaking away from her teachings to come into his own. She was a bit disappointed that coming into his own seemed to include adding wrestling moves to the things that she had taught him.

“Well, it’s bound to happen. Everyone eventually adds their own flavor to what they’re taught,” Isabel reminded herself. She figured that she should just be happy that all of her children were sticking to their martial arts.

“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Look at this!” Wen said and he proceeded to show Isabel that he could do a jump kick over his twin’s head. Isabel was not at all surprised when Wes was slammed in the head by the heel of his brother’s foot.

“They are their father’s sons,” Isabel remarked to herself with a sigh.

“You idiot! You almost took my head off!” Wes pointed out, hollering at his double. He had his hand to the side of his throbbing head.

“I know. It was cool!” Wen snickered.

“I’ll show you cool!” Wes declared.

Isabel did not stop the boys as they started fighting each other; it just counted as sparring. She turned her attention to Matteo, who smiled widely when he saw his mother coming over to him. She did not say anything to him, only watched him, which he liked. That did not last very long, though.

“You’re standing too wide to pull that move off and keep your balance,” Isabel warned.

“Mommy! I can do it! You let Shona and Hay do it how they wanna do it all the time! I can do it, too!” Matteo countered with a pleading expression on his face.

Isabel was silent and watched as he fell on his face. He continued to try doing it his way until she turned her eyes away. It was only then that he corrected himself and called her to look at him as he did the move successfully. She smiled and clapped a bit as he did it right, if only to egg him on. Of course, that was not enough for the little emperor.

“No, you should tell me what a good job I did!” Matteo pointed out. “I did a very hard move, after all,” he added.

“Matt, you know words are chosen very carefully around here. You don’t get praise for every little thing you do well,” Isabel said calmly. In fact, she stopped telling her children that they were doing good jobs after they were about eight years old. She did not think it was right to praise them for every little good thing, just like she did not think it right to scold them for every little bad thing. 

“But, Mommy!” he whined. 

Isabel turned her attention away from him, not interested in hearing him whine about something. Matteo was not deterred, though. He chased after his mother, determined to force her to look at him. She fought back, determined not to pay him any mind. In the end, the stronger will prevailed and he went to whine to his father while Isabel finished instructing the twins. 

“Daddy, Mommy’s not listening to me! She always ignores me!” Matteo cried as he fled into the house gym, where Kane was working out, beating up a heavy bag. 

“Mommy always ignores you? I must be in the wrong house most of the time then,” Kane remarked with a laugh. “Last time I checked, Mommy pays you plenty of mind as does everyone else.” 

“No, they don’t! Everyone always ignores me!” 

“No, we don’t.”

“Yes! You’re doing it right now! You’re ignoring me!”

“I think you have ignore confused with argue,” Kane commented quite seriously. He had no clue where his son picked up such nonsense.

Matteo did not seem to be in the mood to argue anymore and fled that area. Kane rolled his eyes and sighed. _Matteo’s weird_ , he thought, but then again, he supposed that he understood Matteo just a little bit. After all, Kane liked attention, more so than some people, just like Matteo. Matteo did not seem to know when to turn it off, though. He wanted all eyes on him forever.

“Good thing he’s a superhero and people like Team Go or else he’d drive us up the wall,” Kane thought with a laugh.

And as soon as Kane made the comment about superheroes, he got a call saying that Team Go was needed. He rounded up the troops that he had while Sheshona and Hadrian met them at the scene. They handled a hostage situation with about the amount of tact and precision that people have come to expect of them; it was like using a hand grenade to wipe out a colony of ants at a picnic a lot of the time with them. But, they came through and no one was hurt, which was why they always got called in.

“Next time, we might want to leave a few windows unbroken, okay, all you Someone-goes?” Kane remarked with a laugh. The funny thing was that he was the only one on the team without a code name. He was just referred to as the “yellow one.” He just could not get into the thing enough for a code name, which he found weird since it was all his idea to begin with. He guessed that some childhood dreams were supposed to just stay dreams.

“I think one in the back survived,” Shego chimed in.

“No, we broke that one,” a Wego stated proudly.

Kane sighed, but there was a weary smile on his face. He was the first one to leave the scene as usual. Hego and Mego enjoyed being in the spotlight and loved talking to reporters. The Wegoes liked making faces in the camera, so they did that for a few minutes before getting bored. Shego had come to a point in her life were she was starting to lose the desire to act stupid with people watching, so she was the second to leave, returning to Jennifer to hang out.

“You do a lot of running off,” Jennifer noted when Sheshona returned, slightly out of breath and her hair slightly amiss. Jennifer had gotten used to the sight, so she did not say anything about. They were chilling out in a diner, studying and eating.

“I’m popular,” Sheshona remarked with a smirk.

“You could be if you tried harder,” Jennifer chimed in. She was willing to bet that if her friend put her mind to it, Sheshona could be one of the most popular kids in school because Sheshona had it all, looks, brains, talent, but dammit, the girl was about as lazy as they come when it came to anything beyond studying and about as social as an angry tiger.

Sheshona waved off the comment. “I don’t need that shit.”

“Come on, you could be just as popular as Hadrian. I mean, you can do everything that he can do and then some. So, you should join a team or something.”

“Fuck a team. I don’t want to be around a bunch of people,” the pale girl replied, frowning to dismiss the idea.

“You’re so antisocial.”

“It’s in my genes,” Sheshona cracked, even though she was telling the truth as far as she was concerned. Her mother, while friendly to people, was not a social creature in the least and did not have the patience for it; something Sheshona knew she inherited. _To hell with a lot of people_ , she thought, especially the ones that tried to use her to get closer to her big brother. _Fuck them_.

“Hey, if you’re happy like this …” Jennifer said with a shrug. She liked Sheshona, popular or not, so it did not make a difference to her.

“I am. I’d rather study and draw and shit like that. I don’t need a bunch of people to get smarter or better at my arts. Hell, I barely need you around,” the younger girl pointed out.

“Fat lot of chance getting rid of me now. In fact, you might as well just propose and marry me because I’m not going anywhere,” Jennifer remarked, smiling all the way through.

“You always say stupid stuff like that. I’ll be done with you soon enough. You’ve got to go to college at some point.”

“I’ll just transfer when you have to go to college and start stalking you all over again.”

Sheshona frowned. “You keep this shit up and I’m going to think something’s wrong with you. Like you like me or something.”

A creepy smile crossed Jennifer’s face. “And if I do?” she inquired in almost a seductive whisper.

Sheshona blanched and seriously looked ready to pass out. Jennifer sort of panicked because she was expecting her tease to affect her friend in such a way. She rushed from her side of the table over to Sheshona, catching the younger girl against her shoulder as Sheshona fell to the side.

“Shona, what the hell was that?” Jennifer demanded as the freshman sat up.

“Nothing. Let’s keep studying for our finals,” Sheshona replied as she regained control of herself.

Jennifer nodded, even though she still looked quite concerned for her young friend. The youth made sure to put on her toughest face as she sat up straight and turned her attention back to their notes. Jennifer got up from her seat and went back to where she was before.

They were studying for their finals. Jennifer was impressed to see her friend’s schedule for the first time. It was not just advanced math that Sheshona was in, but also she was some high level art classes. She was impressed to see Sheshona’s study habits, which were a shocker to her. Usually, Sheshona was quite laidback and complained about doing a lot of stuff, but studying was not one of those things. Sheshona dived right into it and was hardly ever distracted; these habits came from lessons that her mother pounded into her brain from when she started doing martial arts and her brothers had them, too.

Sheshona showed her study habits more frequently because she was not as easily distracted as her brothers. But, she did get distracted every now and then, especially when a pair of pretty legs walked by. Sheshona’s eyes wandered as a woman passed them in a very short skirt. It was not the first time it happened and Jennifer doubted that it would be the last.

“Shona,” Jennifer said, thinking that she might snap her friend out of the little daze.

Sheshona’s attention was firmly on those legs, though. Her eyes wandered up to the hips, but she did not react at all to her name being called. It was not until the woman was out of sight did Sheshona realize that Jennifer was calling her.

“Huh?” Sheshona said, turning to the older girl.

“Shona, tell me something,” Jennifer said.

“Yeah?”

“Remember when we first met?”

“Yeah …”

“Remember what I did?”

“Yeah …”

“How did it make you feel?” Jennifer inquired. She was not sure why she was asking the questions. She already knew the answer to her main goal. Well, she supposed that she was doing it because she was not sure if Sheshona knew the answer.

“What do you mean? I didn’t feel anything,” Sheshona answered, already on the defensive. It was almost like she knew what was coming, even though she really had no clue.

“So, if I were to do it again, you wouldn’t feel anything?”

“No!”

“Okay.”

Sheshona stiffened and silently prayed that Jennifer did not kiss her again. Not in front of so many people, not in some place that it would be a little harder to flee from than an open park. Part of her, though, did consider that she would not mind another kiss, as long as so many people were not watching. It would probably prove at least as pleasant as before.

Sheshona sighed in relief when Jennifer just went back to her work. They continued studying until a waitress came over to take their orders, as they were in a diner. They got hamburgers and fries while turning their attention back to their work.

“She was hot,” Jennifer said out of the blue. She was quite casual about it, as if it was something that she said all the time.

“Yeah, great legs,” Sheshona agreed before she knew what she was saying. It seemed that the words reached her brain right after they left her mouth and her eyes went wide as she looked up, wondering what Jennifer’s reaction would be.

Sheshona expected a look of shock or maybe disgust, but Jennifer just looked smug. There was a small smirk on her oval face and an amused glint in her eyes. Sheshona frowned, realizing she had been tricked.

“Oh, fuck you, Jen,” Sheshona said contemptuously.

“What?” Jennifer asked innocently.

Sheshona huffed and shoved her work into her book bag. She stormed off before Jennifer got a chance to properly explain herself. The older girl silently cursed; she should have known that Sheshona would take that badly. After all, Sheshona probably thought that she was being mocked or teased, which she was very much against.

“I’ll call her later. Hopefully, she’s still taking my calls,” Jennifer commented as the food arrived. She looked at the two meals. “Hanging out with her is going to make me fat and broke,” she remarked, planning to eat both meals now that they were there.

Sheshona went home, surprising her parents. She ignored the fact that they both popped up off of the couch and she marched right up to her room. Isabel and Kane looked at each other.

“I think I shall be grateful that we weren’t just busted,” Isabel commented.

“And I’ll be thankful if you go find out what’s wrong with Shona,” Kane quipped.

Isabel nodded and stood up. She took a moment to straighten out her plain white shirt before climbing the stairs after their daughter. She hoped that one of the boys had not done something stupid that set Sheshona off; they were going to try the girl’s limited patience one time too many, Isabel thought.

“Shona?” Isabel called as she poked her head in the door.

“Go the hell away, Mommy. I don’t want to talk about it,” Sheshona growled as she dumped her work out on her desk.

“I didn’t make any such offer to listen anyway,” Isabel pointed out.

Sheshona scowled. “You’re fucking just like goddamn Jennifer. Always making fun of me and everything. You two are going to stop laughing at me or I’m going to fucking kick your asses one of these days.”

“Oh, please, feel free to try on me. I would love the fucking attempt,” Isabel remarked with a smile. “Jennifer, though, I don’t think you want to kill the one friend you have around these parts.”

“Fuck Jennifer. She’s such a bitch. Her and her fucking smartass comments.”

“Unlike your smartass comments.”

“And stop taking her fucking side! You’d probably fucking laugh right along with her! You’re an asshole, Mommy!”

“Come say it to my face,” Isabel challenged her little girl.

“Later. I have finals to study for.”

Isabel left on that note. She was glad that Sheshona was studying for her finals; Hadrian seemed to think that the answers would slap him in the face when test time came. She sighed and went back downstairs to her husband.

“So, what’s wrong with Shona?” Kane asked curiously.

“I think she and Jennifer had a little thing. She’ll probably cool down after getting some time to herself,” Isabel explained while curling up next to him.

“Shona and her friends. It’s always drama.”

“That’s how it is with girls,” Isabel remarked with a smile.

“You’re kidding, right? Is that how you were with your friends in high school?”

“Oh, I didn’t have any friends. I knew plenty of people and hung out with quite a few of them when I could, but I never really had friends. I knew if I did, one day someone would do something to set me off and then things would get messy. I try to avoid problems when I can.”

Kane looked incredulous. “Since when? If you tried to avoid problems, you damn sure wouldn’t have married me.”

Isabel smiled. “You’re trouble that I don’t mind.”

Kane smiled on that note. They stayed curled up on the couch for a little while until the boys came in. Isabel started barking out orders that Hadrian needed to study for his finals, Matteo needed to practice his martial arts, and the twins needed to start their homework. Once the orders were followed, Isabel started making dinner while Kane went to help the twins with their homework.

“Math is hard,” Wen complained while scratching his head in confusion. Wes nodded in agreement while scrunching up his face.

Kane was not in agreement with that, but then again, he had always been pretty good in math. Not to mention, his powers affected his brain and he now learned at an accelerated rate, so even stuff that he had no clue how to do, if he devoted enough time to it, he tended to figure it out faster than most. He sometimes wondered if that power spilled over into the kids like some of the other powers did. He supposed it would explain why Hadrian was still passing certain classes, even though he was letting his football celebrity go to his head.

The night was fairly normal for the family by the time dinner was served. Sheshona had calmed down a bit and was able to interact with everyone without biting their heads off, except for her mother of course. The guys would never understand how that relationship worked, they thought; the boys knew that they would probably have a mental breakdown if Isabel prodded them the way that she prodded Sheshona and they would never think to say most of the things that Sheshona said to their mother.

“Shona, you keep up such rude behavior and I’ll be forced to take you outside and teach you a lesson,” Isabel commented with a taunting smile after her daughter saluted her with one finger.

“Please do. I’d fucking kill you. Then I’d have Daddy all to myself,” Sheshona proclaimed, believing those words would get on her mother’s nerves.

“If that is your wish,” Isabel replied calmly.

“It is. I’m taking my daddy away from you and burying you in the fucking yard!”

And with those words a fight was on. It was not the first fight between the pair and the family doubted it would be the last. They marched into the backyard after turning the lights on; the guys followed behind to see the action.

The dance last almost a half-hour. Sheshona got in some good hits; her brothers cheered loudly for her. Kane never cheered; it was not that he did not approve of things, but he had no clue who to cheer for. He did make a note of how Sheshona was doing and how Isabel changed up with each fight. In the end, the teenager was defeated as always.

“You’re a couple of decades too early to try taking anything from me,” Isabel said in an amused tone to further taunt her fallen daughter.

Sheshona frowned from her space on the ground. Matteo leaned down and helped Sheshona up and she stormed off into the house. They all watched her leave before going about their own business.

-8-8-8-8-

“I don’t see how being beaten up is good and calming,” Kane said, speaking to Isabel. They were in their bedroom. 

“It works. You get to let all of your frustration out on an opponent you know you can’t beat yet, but want to beat as badly as anything else in your life,” Isabel replied.

“Is that how it was with you and your mother?”

“Yup. I’m sure it was that way with her and her mother, too. That’s just how we are.”

“I noticed you taking it a little rougher on her than usual,” he commented.

“She’s ready for it. Next time we fight, I’ll be even rougher. I’d like to do it with the boys too, but they never really want to seriously fight with me. Maybe you can rough them up a bit,” she requested.

Kane made a face to show his reluctance. “I’m not too comfortable with that. I mean, yes, I like messing with them and teasing them when I help train them, but I don’t think I could beat on them the way that you do with Shona.”

“I feel like I’m cheating them.”

“I don’t think you could hit the twins like that anyway,” he remarked with a teasing smile.

Isabel frowned, but she did not deny the charges. _Hit my little babies like I hit Sheshona?_ She knew that she should, but she was not too sure that she could. She needed to train all of her kids the way that she knew how to train. But, Sheshona seemed to be the only one willing to snap at her right now for her to push the way that she knew how to push. She was certain that she would just break the boys’ hearts if she did to them what she did with Sheshona.

“I’m sure our little emperor will one day make it to this point,” Isabel said, speaking more to the air than anything else.

“Yeah, you’ll be kicking Matt’s butt sooner or later,” Kane concurred. Matteo was going to be something like Sheshona, they were pretty sure of that. Sheshona was quietly a bit arrogant and Matteo did think things were all about him. They both wanted things to go their way or no way, so it was only a matter of time before Matteo started challenging his parents when things did not go his way.

“I can’t wait to train him. I want to see just what he plans to do with these crazy wrestling moves he’s adding into his style,” Isabel stated.

Kane shrugged; he could not say much about Matteo’s style since his style was an amalgamation of things her family taught him, boxing moves he already knew, and just weird stuff that he saw in the movies that he figured out how to do. They let the matter drop and settled down for sleep. Tomorrow would be another day of the usual insanity; they were sure of that.

-8-8-8-8-

Sheshona sighed and stared at her ceiling with a troubled look in her emerald eyes. Her mother had beaten her again, but that was not really the problem. She wanted to make that the issue to avoid having to deal with the fact that she knew she was going to have to talk to Jennifer tomorrow. Jennifer would not have it any other way, after all. But, instead of thinking about that, she thought about how she lost to her mother.

“Every time I’m sure I can take her, she just gets better. One day, Mommy, one day, I will defeat you,” she vowed to the warm night air. “I’ll show you that I’m just as good as any other Han on this planet.”

With that settled, her mind went back to Jennifer. She forced herself to fall asleep to avoid having to dwell on the older girl. She was not surprised to see Jennifer the moment that she stepped into school.

“Shona, you still mad at me?” Jennifer asked, like a scolded child with a pout plastered on her very mature face. She stuck out her lip and everything.

“Stop making fun of me all the time and get to class, you moron,” Sheshona ordered.

Jennifer only smiled, knowing that if Sheshona was speaking to her then things were not as bad as they seemed yesterday. She did make it a point to catch up with Sheshona at the end of the day so that they could talk. She did not want to leave things in a bad way between them, after all.

“Hey, Shona, mind if I walk with you?” Jennifer requested as she moved in right next to Sheshona as soon as the freshman was out of school.

“You’re going to do what you like anyway,” Sheshona pointed out.

“This is true,” Jennifer conceded with a small, good-natured smile.

Sheshona shrugged. They walked together in silence for a little while. Sheshona did not think that she had anything to say. In her opinion, everything was Jennifer’s fault.

“Shona, I’m sorry I got you all upset yesterday. I mean, I shouldn’t have teased you like that,” Jennifer apologized with a sigh.

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Sheshona agreed.

“But, you have to accept at some point that you like girls,” the elder female continued on, almost as if she did not even hear what her friend said.

“I don’t! I don’t like girls like that!” Sheshona protested … although she did not see the big problem with liking girls. Girls were soft and curvy and they had very pleasant smells … her thoughts were cut off before she could get any deeper than that.

“Shh! You want the whole world to know what we’re talking about?” Jennifer pointed out.

Sheshona balked at the idea. “I don’t like girls like that,” she reiterated in a much lower tone.

“Whatever, Shona. You shouldn’t lie to yourself like that. It doesn’t bother me if you do. I’m your friend no matter what. But, I think it’s unhealthy for you to go around telling yourself that you don’t when it’s obvious you do.”

“How is it obvious?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe all of the porn you have poorly hidden underneath your bed for starters!” Jennifer commented with that damned smug look of hers.

“I use those for drawing,” Sheshona argued.

“You use the video tapes for drawing too?” Jennifer countered.

Sheshona made a face that looked like she was choking. She even stopped walking for a second. _Dammit, how does Jennifer know about my damn collection of video tapes?!_ She shook it off and kept on moving.

“I’m just curious about sex,” Sheshona lied.

“Uh-huh. Shona, you can come up with a million and one excuses to tell me and yourself, but that doesn’t change things. I’m not going to argue with you over it. I won’t tease you about it anymore either. It’s your thing to figure out, not mine. I already know what I’m attracted to, after all.”

Sheshona was quiet for a second. “What are you attracted to?” she asked shyly, not sure what to expect.

Jennifer smiled. “Why, cute little girls, of course.”

Sheshona’s eyes went wide for a moment and then a realization struck her that caused her face to fall into a deadpan expression. “You liar.”

Jennifer chuckled. “Only a little. Seriously, though, I like girls … and guys.”

“How can you like both?” Sheshona inquired.

“Don’t worry about me liking both. You should worry about you liking one. Figure yourself out, Shona. It’s not like it’ll hurt you. I mean, do you think you like looking at girls’ legs for the hell of it? No, you like what’s attached to the legs, too. I’m sure you wish there weren’t any guys in all of those porn tapes you have, too. What’s the problem with you liking girls anyway?” 

Sheshona stared ahead of her. “It’s just weird, isn’t it? I mean, girls like boys … right?”

“Sometimes. And sometimes they like other girls or sometimes they’re like me and like every damn body,” the older teen remarked with a smile.

“I guess …” the fourteen-year-old grumbled.

“Your parents wouldn’t care about you liking girls, right?”

“I doubt it,” Sheshona replied. She had met much of the family on her mother’s side and she was pretty sure that anything went in the Han family. While the Go family was quite conservative, she knew that her father was just as open-minded as her mother, so she doubted things would be a problem for them.

“And it’s not like your brothers would hate you or anything, right?”

“Well … I doubt that too,” the younger girl replied. Her younger brothers at the least seemed to hang around her no matter what she did, even when she did not want them around.

“So, you’re not in danger of losing your family or anything. I mean, if I told my parents that I’m bi-sexual, they would hit the ceiling, even though I doubt that they know what that means. They’d probably just think I’m gay. You have a lot of space and leeway here that others in your position don’t have. Not to mention, you don’t even give a fuck what society thinks, right?” 

“Fuck society,” Sheshona stated harshly. If people wanted to judge her because she thought girls were pretty, well then, fuck them. If they wanted to say something, she would say something back and if they wanted to do something, well, there was always space and opportunity as far as she was concerned.

“So, you really have nothing stopping you from exploring this side of you. It’s not as weird as you think it is.”

Sheshona nodded. “Um … thanks … for the talk …” she mumbled.

“Aw! Tough little Shona is thanking little old me!” Jennifer squealed, obviously joking.

Sheshona frowned, which just made Jennifer wrap her up in a hug to be even more playful. Sheshona merely made sure to look like she resented the affection, but she did not try to get out of the hold, even though they both knew that she could get out if she really wanted to. After a few seconds, Jennifer let her friend go.

“If you want my help in any way, you know I’m here, Shona. I could take you to a few hang out spots and you could meet people and everything,” Jennifer explained.

Sheshona nodded; that sounded like a good idea. And so, she started going places with Jennifer to meet people that were sort of like her. She stuck close to Jennifer for a while, but she was able to start navigating parties and people on her own. It did not take too long for her to have fun and to figure a lot of things out.

-*-(New day)-*-

“Mommy, Daddy, can I talk to you guys for a minute?” Sheshona oddly requested, speaking into her parents’ bedroom late one night.

Isabel and Kane were not doing anything beyond exercising, so it was a safe to talk. Isabel was actually trying to show Kane certain pressure points on the body to help his fighting, but he was not paying much attention. He could not help it because the t-shirt that Isabel had on was stretched out across her chest and screaming for dear life, like if she breathed too deeply, it would rip open. All his mind could focus on was cleavage and more cleavage.

“You want to talk? You mean, you don’t want to just blurt out the most inappropriate shit imaginable and act like you’re right and everyone else is wrong?” Isabel teased.

“Fuck you, Mommy. I’ll just tell Daddy then,” Sheshona declared while turning her attention to her father. He managed to snap out of his daze and turned his attention to her.

“What’s up, Shona?” Kane asked, as if the conversation was honestly just between him and Sheshona.

“For the past couple of months, I’ve been figuring something out about myself and I figured out that I like girls,” Sheshona explained bluntly.

“I like girls, too,” Kane remarked with a goofy grin and he then shamelessly grabbed his wife’s ass.

“Hey! Cut it out!” Isabel barked and slapped his hand away.

“Well … that’s the thing. I like girls in that way,” Sheshona continued on.

Her parents were silent for a moment and then they nodded. Sheshona was not sure how to take the gesture. She kind of figured that they would not see it as a big deal; she was far from the first lesbian in the Han family, after all.

“Glad you figured that one out,” Isabel quipped.

“I wasn’t talking to you!” Sheshona roared as she was completely annoyed with her mother.

“Right, right, right. This is between you and your daddy,” Isabel remarked while rolling her eyes.

Sheshona glared at her mother before turning back to her father. “Uh, but, yeah, I like girls … in that way,” she said, now sounding almost shy about things.

“It’s fine, Shona. If you like girls, then you like girls. It’s just a part of who you are and it doesn’t take away from you. We still love you just the same,” he assured her.

Sheshona smiled. “Thank you, Daddy.”

Kane only grinned, as expected. Sheshona then briefly glanced at her mother. She looked downward and tried to watch her mother through her eyelashes; it was noticed, but not mentioned. Isabel smiled a bit and patted Kane on the shoulder, as if expressing approval on the way that he handled the situation. Sheshona had to force herself not to smile again.

“Okay, well, that’s it,” the teen said awkwardly and she fled the room.

“God, from all of the porn she hides in her room, did she really think we didn’t know she was lesbian?” Isabel wondered aloud when the girl was out of earshot.

“Hey, she uses those for drawing!” Kane defended their daughter.

“Yeah, you and her both,” Isabel deadpanned.

“What? I do use them for art!”

Isabel rolled her eyes again, clearly lacking belief in his statement. Kane pretended to cry, but that did not get him anywhere. Isabel just glared down at him. He sighed and straightened himself out.

“You know, you took that pretty well for a guy with no gay people in his family,” Isabel commented.

“Well, no openly gay people anyway. It’s fine. Lesbians are some of my favorite people,” he remarked with a cheeky grin. “I especially like it when they hit on you. All kinds of fantasies come to mind.”

Isabel slapped Kane in the head for that. “Idiot. Lesbians don’t want you anyway.”

“But, I can dream! That’s why it’s called a fantasy! I mean, geez, you should see the things you do in my fantasies. All kinds of stuff I know would never happen in real life … mostly because it’s physically impossible to do,” he joked, grinning as usual.

Isabel only frowned. She briefly glanced at the door, thinking of Sheshona. She was glad that the girl had come to terms with her sexuality so early. She was also proud that Sheshona came to tell them so early. She doubted that many fifteen-year-old girls were ready to admit to their parents that they were homosexual.

“Is this is a sign that we’re good parents?” Isabel wondered aloud by accident.

“Hmm?” Kane asked.

“Nothing, sweetheart. Let’s go back to me showing you this move. I don’t see how you couldn’t get it. The twins got it,” Isabel said.

“That’s not fair! They can make like a million of themselves and each learn some of it and bring it all together to learn the whole thing!” Kane pointed out.

“And yet they struggle with math. Amazing,” Isabel commented with an amused smile.

Kane chuckled a bit, too. He supposed that there was always going to be something “amazing” with their kids. They were like their parents, after all.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: a new hero shows up in Go City. She’s got magical powers and she’s got her eye on Sheshona. Kane and Isabel try to deal with Hadrian.


	29. Rose colored glasses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, or Wen; Disney does. I do own Kane, Isabel, Jennifer, and Medea.

28: Rose colored glasses

“Kane, I can’t believe you did this,” Isabel said, staring out into the distance of harbor. Her usually stoic mask was dropped for the moment as her mouth hanging open, jaw on the ground.

Kane grinned proudly, putting his arms around her shoulders. “Isn’t it great?!”

“Great is not the word I would use to describe this …” Isabel muttered with a grimace on her face as she eyes the monstrosity that her husband wasted money on. _Why the hell does the team need a “Go Tower”?_ She could not even begin to guess.

“It’s cool! The kids’ll love it! It’s like having a bat-cave. And the people of Go City won’t mind. I mean, they have their own private superhero team!” Kane pointed out with a larger grin than before. 

Isabel only sighed; _Kane’s going to spoil the kids something awful_ , she thought. It was too late to say anything now, though. The construction had already started and everything was already paid for. Her husband was a sneaky little bastard to tell her that he was spending the money on a “surprise.” _Well, mark this down as one surprise I could have done without_.

Isabel did not say anything further and marched off to go back to the car. Kane ran from the dock over to his wife. He frowned a bit because she was obviously not very pleased with what he had done.

“Bella, it’s just a new superhero toy. Like everything else I’ve bought since we started this. What’s the problem?” he begged to know.

“You’re just spoiling the kids. They don’t need all of this shit,” she pointed out.

“They don’t need a lot of the things we give them, yet they still get them,” he countered while opening the passenger door for her. She slipped in and then he trotted to the driver’s side to get in.

“This is overdoing it, Kane. You could have used that money on something useful, not a big unnecessary base of operations while you guys play superhero,” she rebutted.

Kane huffed. “Well, first off, we’ve been doing this long enough to where the kids take it pretty seriously, so it’s not playing. Second off, they need a headquarters to plan stuff out when things get tough. It’s not like it would be safe for them to run home. They need some place to mount a defense.”

Isabel arched an eyebrow; she was now worried about something else. “Why do you keep saying ‘they’? You don’t want to do it anymore?”

“It’s getting boring for me. Plus, it takes away a lot of the time that I could be with you and most of the time I really just want to lay around the house. The kids have it under control. I mean, as long as they’re not fighting some sexy villainess, everything should be fine.”

“Hell, even if you were there and they were fighting some sexy villainess things would get screwed up,” Isabel remarked.

“Well, that is very true. This isn’t holding my attention much. I’m sick of having to move around so much and at someone’s whim too.”

“So, you’re going to quit?”

“Uh … yeah.”

“Not only am I married to a lazy, annoying, perverted geek, but he’s a quitter to boot. Why the hell did I have your children again?” Isabel teased.

Kane smiled, but he actually appeared a bit uneasy. “Cuz you think I’m cute,” he cooed. “You don’t mind, do you?” he asked just to be sure.

“It’s fine. I trust Hadrian and Sheshona to watch everyone. Besides, with you around, I should be able to get a lot more practice in. You really have to learn to stick to your guns, though. It’s a bit troubling to see you walk away from something that you were so enthused about just a couple of years ago. I don’t want the kids to think it’s okay to just walk away from commitments when they get bored,” she pointed out.

Kane nodded. “Well, I just don’t look at it as something too important. I mean, I do like spending the time with the kids and everything, but it gets annoying to have to go out every time someone calls me and that person isn’t even you. I wouldn’t walk away from something that is important, though. So, don’t worry about that.”

Isabel accepted that. Kane did not walk away from the hero business immediately, but he sort of eased out of it, going out less and less with the kids to stop bad guys. He did make sure to show them how to operate any new toys they got, though. The Go Tower was the first thing that he showed them all of the little gadgets in. He trained them to use all different types of vehicles; Sheshona and Matteo enjoyed piloting the most out of everything.

The Go Tower was equipped with training rooms to keep the kids in shape, which they adored. There were places to practice using their powers. There was a pool for them to do swimming exercises and simulators for them to train in almost any situation that came to mind. There were also private rooms for them to be alone. They loved Go Tower.

-8-8-8-8-

“Ah, a nice quiet day to lounge on the sofa without having to hear someone screaming my name … unless of course it’s my precious Bella,” Kane remarked to the air as he flopped down on the couch to relax.

Actually, no one would be screaming his name since he was alone in the house. Isabel had work and the kids were playing around in Go Tower as they were making it a habit to do. He was all alone, but he knew that he would find someway to amuse himself.

He turned on the television and grabbed his sketchbook. He flipped through the channels until he found something that would be suitable background noise while he worked on a picture. He worked on that for a little while until his Team Go communicator started going off. He sighed and reached over for it.

“Hey,” Kane greeted whoever was calling him.

“We’ve got a monster bird situation. Are you gonna come along?” Sheshona inquired through the communicator.

He groaned. “Not that crazy bird guy again. How the hell did he get out of jail last time?”

“Knowing him, he’ll say something like he flew the coop or some shit. He’s got a new thing, though. He’s screaming about how he’s going to steal our powers and shit. So, you want to tag along?”

“You guys can handle that nut-job without me in the way.”

“Suit yourself, Daddy.”

The communication was disconnected and Kane went back to working on his picture. He decided to turn to the news to find out how things were going along with the giant monster bird and make sure the kids did not break too many things; he had to pay for that junk, after all.

He turned just in time to see the Go Jet fly into the news camera, chasing after a large vulture-looking creature. Kane was able to tell who was flying by what happened next; the jet rammed the bird. That had to be Matteo piloting because Sheshona had a thing about hurting animals; she got it from her mother.

The bird screeched in pain when the jet crashed into it. The animal turned to see what had harmed it and then surprisingly enough spit fire at the jet from its mouth. The plane avoided the hit just barely.

“Let me fly!” Shego demanded, trying to wrestle the controls from her younger brother. “You’re going to get us killed!” she barked at the purple-haired young man. She was now sixteen and Mego was going to be fifteen soon.

“The hell I am! It’s my turn to fly!” Mego argued while trying to pull away from Shego.

“Shego, it’s his turn. It’s only right that we take turns and share—” Hego started to reprimand her, but she was not trying to hear that at the moment.

“Save me your self-righteous bullshit! We’re in the middle of a battle and Mego is fucking up. This isn’t the time to share!” she stated and she flung Mego away from the controls.

Mego made a noise as he fell back and landed hard on the floor. Shego was about to turn the jet around while trying to figure out the best course of action in fighting a giant vulture that spit fire. Nothing was coming to mind and she was not getting any help. It did not help matters when she had to suddenly turn the plane.

“What the hell are you doing?” Hego hollered at Shego for her suddenly poor flying skills.

“He’s shooting those fucking bird missiles at us from the ground! What the hell do you think we have all these monitors on the thing for?” Shego countered in a roar.

“We’ll take care of that, sis!” the Wegoes declared.

The twins leaped out of the jet before anyone could stop them. Luckily, for just such emergencies, the young duo had parachutes installed right into their uniforms. The eldest two sighed in misery, knowing their mother would kill them if the twins came home with as much as a scratch on them.

“I’ve got an idea,” Shego said, which they expected.

“So do I,” Mego declared and was rightly ignored.

“Hego, when I swing the plane around again, you need to get out and pound the bird as hard as you can. You okay with that?” Shego asked.

“No problem. I hunt ducks sometimes, so I should be able to do it,” Hego replied.

Shego did not say anything about that, knowing Hego went hunting with “his father.” He was the one that had Mego thinking it was all right to hurt animals. Now, sure, she had a problem with harming animals and would rather not see the bird injured, but it was necessary. The bird might not know what it was doing, but it was still causing trouble in _her_ city. It had to be stopped.

Shego turned the plane around and Hego jumped out. He came down on the bird with all he had. The creature cried out as its back bent in and it began to plummet to the street below. Hego followed, but was able to withstand the impact thanks to his powers. As soon as he touched down, a flock of screaming birds with razor sharp wings that let him know that they were not flesh and blood birds mobbed him.

Shego found out that her brothers on the ground were not doing a good job at keeping the missiles from the plane. She found a safe place to set the vehicle down and jumped out. She dashed off to join in the fighting.

“Wait for me!” Mego whined as he followed behind his older sister.

Mego joined in the battle and found himself in the same predicament as the eldest. The bird missiles seemed to be coming from everywhere and swarmed around each team member. They had to be careful, exploding too many of those things at once would surely mean serious injury or worse.

“Mego, shrink down and sneak up on that prick!” Shego ordered while dodging the deadly mechanical birds.

“Hey, I’m the leader around here! I make the plans!” Hego barked as he heard Shego dishing out orders, as she was starting to make it a habit of doing.

“This isn’t the time for that. We’ve got to get to bird-boy before something serious happens,” Shego countered with a growl. She could not believe that Hego would try to argue over something so stupid at such a serious moment. They were getting their asses kicked, after all.

Mego did not put up an argument and did his thing. He shrunk down and tried to sneak up on Aviarius, or the “bird-guy” as the team tended to call him, but he found out that their foe was ready for that. There was an energy field around the villain, who was standing off to the side of the battleground. Mego could not get to him with his powers.

“It’s no good, sis!” Mego called right before Aviarius hit him with a blast from his power-stealing staff. Mego hollered in pain before collapsing.

“Mego!” Shego called and then snarled. “All right, bird-boy. You want to play rough, then I’ll get rough,” she mentally decided.

As Mego dropped to the ground, Shego flung a plasma-beam right at Aviarius, not caring about the fact that the explosive birds surrounded her. The beam hit his hand and his hissed in agony while dropped his staff, but it did not break. It hit the ground with a “clank” that was drowned out by the noise from the siblings and deadly birds around them.

“Fuck,” Shego hissed. “Hego, do something, damn it!” she commanded. He called himself their leader then he needed to save their brother and get Mego’s powers back.

“Uh … I’m a bit busy here, sis!” Hego pointed out while trying not to think about how pushy Shego became as she got older. _What the hell happened to my little sister that followed me faithfully and listened to everything I said all the time?_

Shego snarled and cut through the birds flocking around her. She tried to run over to the twins and help them, but bird-missiles came up behind her and blasted her in the back. She growled because of the pain from the small explosives.

“Shit, we might be in a bit of a pickle here. Where the fuck are all these birds coming from anyway?” the green-skinned teen wondered aloud.

Shego turned to slash at most of the projectiles, only to be hit by more on her blind side. She heard her baby brothers call out for her, as she had to bend down onto the pavement and rest on one knee. Her blood dripped onto the blacktop.

“Shego!” the twins called out, as did their dozens of clones, who were also fighting with swarms of bird missiles.

“You two find out where the hell all of those birds are coming from! Don’t worry about me!” Shego replied.

The twins obeyed, searching for the source of the weapons. They were confident that their sister would be fine; she always was. They had a job and they would stick to it, if only to avoid being yelled at later on.

Shego had to get off of the ground because of the birds still diving into her and blowing her skin off. She flared her hands and destroyed everything around her. She started to march toward Aviarius, but circling bird-explosives blocked the view.

“Bastard,” Shego hissed and considered just charging through the wall of birds. She was certain that it would hurt like hell, but she would get that bastard that hurt her brother. She decided to take that chance.

Aviarius had the nerve to laugh as he noticed Shego charging toward him. He would like to see her get through his defenses now. Imagine his surprise when she broke through the thick wall, which had somehow turned to flower petals, and he felt the full sting of Shego’s burning hands. He fell back against a building, face bruising already as it felt like a flaming brick had punched him.

“The hell?” Shego muttered as she noticed the flower petals on her. She glanced back to see that she had just gone through a wall of roses.

“Just trying to be of some assistance,” a nearly melodic voice commented from Shego’s left.

The pale teen turned to see who was offering assistance and was surprised to see a strikingly beautiful young lady with a river of obsidian hair and just about the tastiest-looking lips Shego was sure she would ever see. The stranger’s face was lovely, heart-shaped with high cheekbones. Shego’s heart almost skipped a beat and then she noticed the outfit the other girl was wearing.

“You just escape for a haunted house or did they kick you out of a Halloween parade?” the green-skinned hero remarked because her helper was wearing quite the cheesy witch costume, complete with the pointed black cap.

“How rude. And to think I actually helped you out,” the other girl commented while turning her nose up.

Shego chuckled a bit, apparently happy to have offended the decidedly beautiful girl. She then got to see first hand how the girl turned the missiles into rose petals because she did it again to save Hego and the Wegoes from their humming bird tormentors. Shego turned her attention to Aviarius.

“Now, tell me why I shouldn’t pound your skull in for what you did to him?” Shego growled while grabbing Aviarius by the collar and nodding down to her unconscious brother.

The villain was visibly shaking. “He’ll be fine! He’s just stunned!” the bird man’s voice trembled as bad a his body.

“He better be,” she snarled.

She snatched the staff from Aviarius’ hand and broke it up. Mego’s purple glow returned to him and Shego then rendered Aviarius unconscious from one move to the neck. The usual commotion was made as soon as the coast was clear while a certain yellow-glow seemed to fade away from the scene; Kane had shown up when it looked like the kids were having a little trouble from one of their regular foes. He was glad that he did not have to step in, though; _the kids would have probably been pissed if I helped after saying I’d leave it to them_ , he thought.

Hego gave one his long-winded speeches that seemed to get longer every time he gave one. Mego tried to do the same while the Wegoes made faces behind his back. Shego turned her attention to the girl that helped them.

“Don’t just butt in on our fights anymore. This isn’t some game,” Shego pointed out.

“I know what it is and what it isn’t. I’ve been around for a while. Surely, you’ve heard of me. I’m Medea, the wandering witch,” the assistant declared quite proudly.

Shego only blinked. _Am I supposed to know that name or something?_ The girl’s expression seemed to suggest that she should.

“Never heard of you,” Shego said dismissively while starting to walk off. She had to retrieve the jet, after all.

“What? How could you have never heard of me? I travel the whole planet, helping fight crime!” Medea said, chasing after the pale teen.

“Doesn’t ring any bells and don’t follow me,” Shego ordered.

“I know you’ve heard of me! I’m famous!”

Shego shook her head and decided to ditch the annoyance by scaling a building in a way that she figured no ordinary person could follow. She used her martial arts and powers to climb up the building. She was surprised when Medea beat her to the top.

“How the hell did you do that?” Shego demanded to know.

“I told you, I’m a witch. Now, I know you’ve heard of me. Just think about it,” Medea practically begged.

“I’ve never heard of you. Why don’t you go try that big blow-hard down there. He keeps up with all of the hero crap,” Shego commented while motioning down to her brother. It seemed like he took things just as seriously now as he did when they were kids and he did research to find out what heroes were out there in the world and if they were better than Team Go; competitive streak, she knew. For her, if the hero was not in a comic book, then the hero was not worth knowing.

Medea glanced down at Hego and noticed that he was still talking. “Overdoing a bit, isn’t he?”

“He likes to lay it on thick as a brick,” Shego remarked while climbing into the jet.

Medea chuckled, but did not realize that Shego was making her escape until it was too late. She took off after the plane and smiled at Shego went she was in view of the pilot. Shego balked when she saw the witch flying next to her. 

“This is some bullshit. All because I never heard of her?” Shego muttered.

They did not fly for long, even though Shego was tempted to tease the witch. She did not want to tempt fate with the jet after those missiles damaged it. So, she landed on the island that Go Tower was situated on and Medea landed with her. When she noticed the witch, she saw that the other girl was panting and sweating.

“You okay?” Shego inquired, making sure to sound as annoyed as she looked.

“Fine. Just a little tired from using my powers for so long,” Medea explained.

“If you get tired from using them so much, you shouldn’t follow me while using them,” Shego said without an ounce of compassion.

“You really haven’t heard of me?” Medea inquired with a pout. Her eyes appeared a bit watery, like she was hurt that the other girl had really never heard of her.

“Nope,” Shego proclaimed, almost as if she was proud that she had not heard of the other girl.

Medea frowned, but a strange determined glint appeared in her eyes. Shego ignored it and ignored Medea. She went into the Go Tower, leaving the witch to think twice about following her.

“She was cute, though,” Shego commented to herself.

-8-8-8-8-

Kane made it back home and was stunned to find Isabel waiting for him. He rushed her and embraced her as if he had not seen her in years. She smiled.

“You’re mighty energetic. I guess not going out to play superhero does you well,” she commented.

“I suppose. The kids handled things fine,” he replied.

“I know,” she stated plainly. She watched the news, after all. “Looks like they might have some competition with the witch in town, though.”

“You’ve heard of that girl?” he asked curiously.

“In passing. She does the same thing as our children, but on a global scale because she never stays anywhere for too long. She doesn’t keep her identity a secret and so its known that she moves around so much because her father is in the army. She’ll probably be going to school with Hadrian and Shona.”

Kane nodded. “Well, she’ll have friends, at least.”

“Or enemies with the way Shona acts sometimes.”

Kane chuckled at that; his wife had a point, he supposed. She had a big point because when Sheshona saw Medea in school the next day, she pretended to not know the other hero, even though Medea could guess that Sheshona was Shego. Many people easily guessed that one as they doubted it was a coincidence that Sheshona and Shego had the same complexion, practiced the same martial arts, had the same hair style, and had four brothers that were all rather similar to the superhero alter egos.

“Look, why the hell don’t you just leave me alone?” Sheshona huffed as Medea just popped up outside of her physics class. It was a class for college credits since Shego had completed her science requirements for high school already. She also took morning classes in math for college credits.

“What makes you think I’m not in this class, too?” Medea inquired.

“Because I doubt you even know that two falling bodies accelerate at the same speed despite their weight because of the pull of gravity unless acted on by some outside force,” the green-skinned female replied plainly.

Medea was dumbstruck for a moment. Sheshona donned one of her smug expression; she had come to perfect them at sixteen years old now. Medea looked like she might be prepared to respond, but Sheshona beat her to it.

“Exactly. You have no clue, so I doubt you’re in this class. So, leave me alone,” Sheshona said while marching into the room.

Medea appeared crushed for a moment; Sheshona noticed, but did not seem to care. Well, she did take a lingering look at the witch before taking her seat. A boy came up behind Medea and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t let anything Sheshona says get you too down. She’s been a little cranky since her best friend graduated. She’s an okay girl, smart as hell too, so keep at it if you want to be her friend,” he advised Medea before entering the room.

Medea took his advice, feeling compelled to become known by Sheshona. It was rare that she met fellow female heroes, so she felt a need to connect to the other girl. It was not too hard to become known to Sheshona once she learned Sheshona’s class schedule because all Sheshona did was go to school and work out. She did not seem to have any interest in clubs and she was not allowed on any teams since it was an open secret that she had superpowers; Hadrian had been kicked off the football team for the same reason, which he had not taken well—it still stung him like an unrelenting wasp.

“Why are you following me?” Sheshona inquired in a huff as Medea appeared right next to her as school was dismissed. “Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?”

“Nope,” Medea answered honestly. “You must really not like me to keep giving me a hard time about being near you.”

“It’s not that I don’t like you. I don’t like everyone,” Sheshona pointed out matter-of-factly.

“Well, they said your best friend graduated, so you must’ve liked her.”

“She wasn’t my best friend,” Sheshona said almost coldly. Jennifer was more than a friend, more than a best friend if her experience with other best friends meant anything. Jennifer was a guide, a mentor, and it did hurt that she was gone, even though she called and wrote all of the time; Sheshona always teased her that she was more of a pest when there was distance between them.

Medea looked confused by that, but continued to try to drum up conversation. She actually walked all the way home with Sheshona because of that. The pale teen did not seem to notice until it was too late. She sighed and just went in the house without bidding Medea goodbye.

“I saw you walking home with that cute girl. Replacing Jen already?” Kane teased as soon as Sheshona was in the door.

“Nobody can replace Jen!” Sheshona practically snarled as if her father had serious insulted her.

He just grinned. “I know. She was cute, though.”

“Annoying as hell, though,” Sheshona commented. And yet, she walked home with Medea again the next day and the day after that.

Kane thought it was amusing. There was always someone out there, no matter how much Sheshona resisted that person, she worked her way into Sheshona’s life through sheer grit and annoyance. Medea was the new person to do that.

“God, it’s like watching you chase me,” Isabel commented as she and her husband watched out the window as Sheshona came up the walk with Medea.

“Hey. You’re worth it and apparently, so is Shona. Well, since Shona seems to be fine for once, what say we turn our attention to the other problem in the house,” Kane suggested while glancing up the stairs.

“I’d rather deal with something else. He’s gotten so unapproachable since he was cut from the team,” Isabel sighed in sorrow for their eldest. She really just wanted to beat him in the skull, but used that approach and found it did not work. Yelling did not work either, so she was running out of useable skills with the young man.

“Well, we must approach.”

“I know. Did he come in already?”

“I think so.”

The couple walked away from the window and ascended the stairs, hoping to speak to Hadrian. They knocked on his door, but he did not respond. Isabel eased the door open and found Hadrian lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

“Hadrian, are you ready to talk about it?” Isabel inquired. Sometimes, she wished that she could approach him like she did with Sheshona, pretend not care and get into a little argument where she found out what was wrong and Sheshona was left feeling better. Her sons just did not work that way. At least the younger ones had no problem with opening up, not to her or Kane. Hadrian seemed to keep building a very thick wall, though.

“I’m fine, Mommy. I mean, it makes sense that they would cut me from the team if my grades aren’t good enough,” Hadrian said in a grumble. He was trying to sound nonchalant, but he just could not pull it off.

Isabel nodded a bit; she knew that the coach lied to Hadrian when saying his grades were not good enough. Now, his grades were not stellar and he was not in any honors classes like his sister and Matteo, but his grades were not so bad to get him cut. It was just that the coach had to say that after Hadrian refused to admit that he had superpowers or that he was a superhero or even that he was somehow cheating because of his powers. Hadrian had refused to bow out gracefully, refused to admit that he was doing anything wrong, and basically disrespected his coach whenever the man tried to give him a decent out.

“It’s no big deal,” the teen insisted, waving his parents off.

Isabel and Kane decided to leave Hadrian alone. They knew that they could only talk to him when was ready to talk about it. They suspected that the reason he had been throwing so much of himself into his superhero work was because he was upset about being off of the team. He needed something to hold onto, something that was his to own and run.

Hadrian frowned while thinking about it. _How the fuck could they just cut me? I was the best goddamn player that they had!_ _I can play offense and defense better than any of them. I was the one that took them to the goddamn championship last year! We fucking won because of me! It was all thanks to me!_

Little did he know, but the championship was under debate because of his open secret, which he was trying his best to keep a closed secret. He always denied when someone accused him of being Hego and he thought that should be enough for people to buy that he really was not Hego. He did not understand why they did not believe him.

Adding to his annoyance was his parents bugging him about things. He could not talk to them. They did not know a damn thing about football; _God, Kane still thinks that “football” means fucking soccer! Not that he cares anyway, not like my dad does._ His mother could not even remember what position he played because of her ignorance of all things “sports.” He was not sure they did not know those things because they did not care or because they just could not figure it out, but it still bothered him.

“Shit, I bet if Shona or Matt or even the twins were playing football they’d at least learn the damn positions,” he growled out of the blue. Part of him wondered where that thought came from.

Hadrian impulsively got out of the bed and stormed out of the house. On his way down the walk, he passed by Sheshona and Medea. Sheshona watched him, taking in his tense expression.

“Hadrian, what’s wrong?” Sheshona called to his retreating form.

“Fuck off, Shona!” Hadrian replied.

Sheshona frowned. “Fuck you, too!” she said. “See if I ever give a damn about him again,” she muttered to herself, forgetting that she had company.

“Everything okay with you two?” Medea asked curiously.

“Yeah, my brother just suffers from bouts of being a complete and utter jackass,” Sheshona answered while turning her attention back to the witch-girl in front of her.

“Oh … okay,” Medea said for lack of a better response. “So, we’re good for the movies tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Sheshona replied as if she did not care. Of course, if she really did not care, she would not have agreed to go.

-8-8-8-8-

Hadrian knocked on a door, a frown marring his strong jaw and his eyes burning with anger. He did look a little relieved when the door open. He stepped inside.

“Hey, Hadrian, I didn’t expect to see you today,” Jason greeted the boy.

“Hey, Dad. I didn’t really expect to come by, but you’re the only one I can talk to about this. I got cut from the football team. What the hell am I supposed to do now?” Hadrian begged to know.

“Come on and tell me about it. We can watch a game or two while you’re at it.”

Hadrian nodded and went to talk to Jason about his problems with the football team. It seemed like his whole high school identity was attached to playing football, which was something that Jason understood completely. He was able to assure Hadrian that it was no big deal and he could get back on the field in college. Jason was certain that any college team would kill to have Hadrian.

“Thanks for all the help, Dad,” Hadrian said with sincere gratitude and honest relief in his voice. “You’re the only one that gets me, you know?”

“You don’t have to thank me. I’m your father and I’ll always be there for you, you know that. I’m here when no one else is here. More than that Kane guy offers up, huh?” Jason commented.

Hadrian had the nerve to nod, agreeing. In his opinion, Jason was there much more than Kane, especially to help him through the difficult things, like being cut from football. Jason was there to treat him to dinner and celebrate when he won games. Jason was there to take him, and only him, places. Jason knew what positions he played in football. _Yes, my dad is there way more than Kane ever was or is_ , Hadrian concluded.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: with high school coming to a close for both Hadrian and Sheshona, Hadrian manages to completely screw up his relationships with his parents and his little sister.


	30. Jedi mind trick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, or Wen; Disney owns them. I do own Kane, Isabel, and Medea.

29: Jedi mind trick

“Are they serious?” Kane asked. He was speaking to Isabel. They were facing off against each other in the house gym while the kids were out doing … well, whatever the kids did. At this point, they only really kept up with the twins and considering that they could make dozens of clones of themselves, it was damn hard to find the real pair sometimes.

“Yes, apparently, they are,” Isabel answered while waiting for Kane to come at her.

“And you’re not going to do anything about it?” he inquired in disbelief while wondering where he could attack her. He considered using his super-speed, but it was just embarrassing when she hit him, even when he was going at an inhuman speed.

“I’m not going to force him to do something he doesn’t want to do, especially not something I didn’t do myself. I can’t force Hadrian to go to college,” she pointed out.

Kane nodded, even though he thought that was odd. “You make a big deal out of their regular school grades, but you don’t want them to go to college?”

“It’s his decision in my opinion. No one in my family is forced to go to college. Maybe because we don’t go for mainstream jobs most of the time, but I don’t think college is for everyone. You might disagree, Mister I-Have-A-Degree,” she remarked with a teasing smile.

He could not help chuckling a bit. He did have a college degree in business and finances; it had taken him forever to get it because he did not attend college regularly. He thought that it was something important for him to have, even though he was not too sure why. He knew enough about business and things just from reading and studying on his own, but he thought that the degree would look pretty good. Now, he would like their children to also have degrees, just in case.

“I think I should at least talk to him. I mean, not going to college just because he can’t play football in college doesn’t mean he shouldn’t go. It’s not like we can’t afford to send him or anything like that. He might find something that he likes more than football,” he commented.

“Talk to him if you want. Like I said, I’m not too bothered with him deciding not to go to college. Yes, it is for a particularly stupid reason, but I’m still not completely bothered by it. I hope in that time he does some soul searching and finds something to replace football,” she informed her husband.

Kane conceded the point and decided to just attack her. Hadrian, it would seem, was his problem alone for once. He supposed that was fair enough since he was the one that cared about college and everything.

He went to check on the soon-to-be high school graduate the moment Hadrian came in. The large teen went right to his room as he had habit of doing now. He played heavy metal music, barely hearing the knocking at the door. Kane eventually just opened it.

“Hey!” Hadrian objected when he saw the door opening. He was ready to shoot up from his chair, which was parked next to a messy desk. The room was littered in sports’ items, jerseys, magazines, and collectors’ cards.

“Sorry, I was knocking, but I guess you didn’t hear,” Kane pointed out while stepping in as much as the junk on the floor allowed.

Hadrian rolled his eyes. “What do you want?” he grunted and did not bother to turn the music down.

“I wanted to talk to you about college.”

“I’m not going,” Hadrian huffed, folding his arms across his chest to seal the declaration.

“Then what you’re going to do with your life?” the older male inquired.

“Be a superhero,” Hadrian answered soundly.

“You’re being silly. You can’t make a living just being a superhero.”

“I’ll be fine,” Hadrian replied dismissively. “If anything comes up, Jason’ll get me a job.”

Kane frowned at the mention of that man’s name. The affect that Jason had on Hadrian in recent years had been almost agonizing for Kane, especially since he could not interfere. He knew that Hadrian enjoyed being around Jason and that was why the teenager went to that man, but Hadrian could not see that Jason was poisoning his mind, at least in Kane’s opinion.

“You’re going to rely on a man that relied on his own father to get him a job instead of finding his own way?” Kane inquired incredulously, not meaning to sound as outraged as he did, but damn it, he worried about his son!

“At least he has a job,” Hadrian said without a hint of humor in his voice.

Kane blinked hard and almost doubted his ears. “Excuse me?” he asked, wanting to be sure that he did hear correctly.

“Nothing. Look, I’m not going to college now. Maybe later on in life, but I don’t feel like it right now and Mommy’s not making a big deal out of it, so it should be fine,” the teenager argued. 

“The hell? Your mother’s not the only that matters around here. You need to go college and get an education, so you can make a living at something,” Kane countered with a huff of his own.

“Why, cuz Shona’s going?” Hadrian said in a bitter tone. _Sheshona’s the fucking golden child, after all._

“This isn’t about Shona. This is about you,” Kane stated.

“Well, I’m not going.”

“Think it over and you could apply to some place for the spring term. Football is not the world,” Kane stated.

Hadrian made a grunting noise and looked down at the floor with blazing sapphire eyes. Kane did not know anything as far as the boy was concerned. _Football is everything!_ Football was his joy. Football was his life. Nothing else mattered where football was concerned, except for being a superhero, and if he could not play football then he did not want anything more to do with school. He really did not want anymore to do with anything, except being a superhero.

Kane decided to leave Hadrian alone since it was clear that he was not in the mood to talk. Hadrian scowled when the door shut and felt the urge to curse loudly, but Jason told him that cursing was impolite and wrong. _Thank God there’s someone around to teach me proper manners and morals and other things I need to make it in life_ , he thought with venom focused toward his parents. _At least someone understands me and cares about me_ , he thought.

“All they care about is there precious, super-genius Shona,” Hadrian huffed.

Glancing out the window, he saw the object of his contempt at the moment. Sheshona, his little sister, and the pride and joy of their parents, he thought. _She thinks she’s so great with her drawing ability and the fact that she’s graduating a year early_. And she was going to some out of state, big university with an academic scholarship, too. _It’s like she can do anything_ , he growled in his mind.

“I could do all that, too, if I had half the support she has!” Hadrian snorted and rolled his eyes. He then wondered for a moment what the hell Sheshona was doing outside, but then he saw why.

Medea walked over to Sheshona, smiling brightly. The two girls walked off, _probably going to the movies or something_ , he concluded. _Sheshona’s so boring and predictable_ , he thought, sounding bitter in his own mind. _Sheshona’s so annoying_.

-8-8-8-8-

“So, how did things go with talking to Hadrian?” Isabel inquired curiously, although she could guess. After all, her husband appeared as if he wanted to punch the wall from frustration.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Kane grumbled while throwing himself into a chair at the island in their kitchen, where Isabel was preparing dinner.

“Don’t be so upset about it,” Isabel implored him. She abandoned her task for a moment and wrapped her arms around her husband. “Even if Hadrian doesn’t go to college, at least he’s still doing better than other adolescent males. He hasn’t done anything horrible or repulsive to make us ashamed of him. He’s not into drugs, he hasn’t gotten any girls knocked up, and he’s not running with the wrong crowd. At his age, we would only be able to say we didn’t do drugs. He’s doing fairly well.”

Kane sighed, but he did nod to concede that point. He just wanted more for the boy than to be “doing fairly well.” Isabel knew that and knew that it frustrated Kane to no end that Hadrian just wanted to settle in life. She leaned down and nuzzled her husband’s neck.

“You can’t push him to do what you want, Kane. He’s practically a grown man. You need to let him live his own life. Hopefully, he will take your advice at some point, so you can have peace of mind, but he has to do things for himself,” Isabel whispered into his ear, as if that would make things easier for him to hear. It worked.

“You make a point,” he conceded. Hadrian was seventeen, so it was time to stop trying to hold his hand. Hell, at seventeen, Kane was already living on his own and a year after that, he was getting beaten up by a pregnant Isabel, who was carrying the boy in question. It was time for Hadrian to grow up.

“Yes, so how about you start worrying about the twins. They need guidance before they kill themselves … oh, wait, you’re the one causing that,” she teased before placing some rather soft kisses to his neck.

“Ew!” the aforementioned boys cried from the doorway of the kitchen.

Isabel and Kane turned to look at the young pair. Isabel did not bother to dislodge herself from Kane; it was not like they were doing anything serious. The twins still made it a point to look thoroughly disgusted and made faces as they marched toward the fridge.

“Hey, you two keep your grubby mitts out of there!” Isabel ordered.

“Why?” Wes inquired as if he was crying while Wen dramatically dropped to the floor as if he was dying.

“Dinner is almost done and I won’t have you two eating a bunch of junk beforehand,” Isabel stated soundly.

“You eat junk afterwards,” Kane added, which earned him a slap in the head.

“Stop teaching them such poor diet habits,” the tall woman hissed.

Kane only grinned, which was copied by the twins. Isabel sighed; _how the hell am I supposed to stay upset when looking at expressions like those?!_ The three of them seemed to know that they had hit upon her weakness as they made sure to pull that hopeless grins all of the time. She really had no answer for it.

-*-(New day)-*-

Hadrian stumbled into the house passed midnight. He was rather loud as he entered the house, slamming the door and running into plenty of things. Before he made it to the stairs, his parents were out of their room and investigating the house. They were not surprised to see Hadrian until he got close enough for them to figure out what he had been out doing.

“Were you drinking?” Isabel inquired, speaking to the teen, who was close enough for them to smell his breath.

“Yeah, so?” Hadrian huffed, puffing his foul breath in their faces. He also puffed out his chest, as if he was trying to exert some force.

“Hadrian, your body is a temple,” Isabel started through gritted teeth, but her son did not allow her a chance to finish.

“I’ve heard the speech before, Mommy. I don’t care to hear it again,” Hadrian stated with anger evident in his voice. He went so far as to brush her words off by waving his hand back and forth to dismiss her.

“Obviously you weren’t listening to it the dozen or so times I said it or any of your other teachers if you’re out drinking. The fuck is wrong with you?” Isabel demanded to know while slapping his hand down.

Hadrian growled. “Nothing is wrong with me. I just had a couple of drinks. Not like I had anything better to do. Couldn’t play football, after all!” he complained in a huff while folding his arms across his chest and falling back a bit. Thankfully, he was not standing on the stairs or he would have tumbled down.

“That’s no excuse for coming in at this hour on a school night drunk,” Kane pointed out.

“Oh, please, Shona comes in at this time all the time! I bet if it was her, you wouldn’t even give a damn!” Hadrian roared.

“This isn’t about Shona and she knows better than to come in at this time on a school night,” Kane stated. They did not even need to mention that Sheshona would never come home drunk.

Hadrian mumbled something that neither of his parents understood and then his footing faltered. Kane was at his side in no time, supporting the much larger male’s weight. Hadrian passed out on his feet.

“This boy is trying my patience,” Isabel muttered while shaking her head. She was not enjoying what was becoming of Hadrian and she hated knowing that only he could change himself, no matter what was said to him by others. She hoped that he shaped up soon enough; it did not make sense for someone that was almost a man to be acting like such a baby, after all.

Hadrian’s behavior did not only go at home with his parents. His irritation was recognized by his siblings, but only directed toward one in particular. The others were not sure how to take that.

-8-8-8-8-

“Shego, when I say move, you move!” Hego commanded, after the team defeated one of the Mather’s plots. He was screaming at her right in the middle of the street.

“The fuck? If I would’ve moved where you wanted me to go, the fucking henchmen would’ve gotten away,” Shego argued, turning her nose up in annoyance. _What the hell crawled up his ass?_

“The point is: I’m the leader! You’re supposed to follow my orders. Besides, you were too rough with that guy!” Hego countered.

“He was holding a fucking weapon on an innocent man. If he didn’t want to get fucked up, he shouldn’t have taken out a weapon. It’s insincere, after all,” she remarked with a cruel smirk on her face.

“You’re getting to be no better than them,” he accused her, putting his index finger in her face. “You’re always going overboard.”

Shego had to resist the temptation to rip his finger off and shove it up his ass; at least that would explain his behavior. “You know what, Hego, fuck you and your self-righteous attitude. I’ve got better shit to do with my time,” she replied and she was looking to get away from the scene before the usual reporters showed up.

“Yeah, run off and go spend all your time with Medea. Something is wrong with you. It’s like you don’t even want to be with your family,” Hego snarled.

Shego only threw him _the_ finger and moved on with her life. She figured that he was just in a pissy mood and it would be better if she left him alone for a little while. That plan worked out for both of them in her opinion because she did not want to be around her big brother when he was in such an irksome mood. The mood did not lift, though.

-*-(New day)-*-

Sheshona was sitting in the backyard of her home with Medea in her arms. They were leaning against a tree and looking quite lovey-dovey; well, Sheshona was against the tree while Medea was against the pale teen. Sheshona rested her chin on Medea’s shoulder. It was not really an uncommon sight around the house, which was why neither was too self-conscious about it.

“You really should consider telling your parents about us, princess,” Sheshona said. It felt like she had made that suggestion a million times.

Medea sighed as if she was in pain. “Not this again. Look, my parents aren’t like yours. They’re more like everybody else and they’ll get mad if they find out about us.”

Sheshona sighed, too, wanting to have the argument, but feeling like it would end up like it always did. It was one of the reoccurring arguments in their relationship. Sheshona wanted Medea to be “out” like she was. No, Sheshona did not broadcast her sexuality to the world as it was not the world’s business, but she also did not shy away from it either. Her parents knew that she was a lesbian and her brothers probably knew if they were not as stupid as they sometimes acted; well, she was fairly certain that Matteo figured it out because he was the next one in line with a fully functioning brain.

“I wish you weren’t going to away this fall,” Medea whispered, purposely changing the subject.

Sheshona had to bite back something cynical to say. “I have to go. I always wanted to go to this school and the fact that they accepted me is like a dream come true,” she replied.

“I know, but you should stay with your princess for a little longer,” the witch commented as she snuggled closer to the other teen.

“I’ll stay as long as I can. You know that,” Sheshona replied, kissing the side of her girlfriend’s head.

It did not strike the girls that they were in plain view of anyone in the house. Sheshona really did not care and Medea did not seem to mind. They cuddled a bit closer and Medea turned to face the other girl. They stared at each other for a moment.

“Tell me again,” Medea requested in a low voice. “Say the words, please.”

“I love you,” Sheshona said without restraint. She did not realize how powerful the words were then or even what they really meant. She just knew that her girlfriend liked to hear them and she could say the phrase as easily as anyone else.

Medea sat up a bit and closed the distance between them, meeting Sheshona’s mouth with her own. The kiss was soft and chaste for a moment; shy like when they first started dating. The heat came seconds later, though; passion expected of two teens bubbled up into the kiss and they opened their mouths for their tongues to greet each other.

Sheshona’s hands had trouble keeping still as the show of affection boiled over. Medea moaned into her mouth as wanting hands explored every inch of her. She only stilled those roaming hands when they tried to sneak into her jeans; she often told Shego that she was not ready for that. They were distracted completely by each other, which would explain why they were stunned when another party joined them.

“Disgusting! What the hell are you two doing? How disgusting could you be?” Hadrian howled as he stormed out into the backyard.

Medea pulled away in shock, trembling from being discovered and the obvious hate being spewed in their direction. She looked around and realized how exposed they were now that she thought about it. She wondered how they had gotten away with it so many other times.

Sheshona did not appear anywhere near as stunned or scared at her poor girlfriend. She was more angry than anything else if the snarl on her lip and fire in her eyes meant anything. She glared at her big brother with near hatred in her eyes.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Hadrian demanded, pointing at his sister as if it was a way to destroy her.

“I’m minding my own fucking business! Something you should try doing once in a while!” Sheshona countered in a rage, motioning violently toward him with a wave of her hand.

“You’ve become a degenerate!” he proclaimed with a fire in his eyes that showed he believed his words.

“WHAT!” Sheshona roared as she climbed to her feet, pulling her thoroughly embarrassed girlfriend up with her. Emerald eyes stayed locked on deep sapphire ones. “Listen here you self-righteous bastard—” she started, but he cut her off.

“That’s what you really think, isn’t it? That I’m just a bastard child? Well, at least I’m not a fucking degenerate. You’re nothing more than a filthy, disgusting pervert!”

Sheshona’s hand flexed, really wanting to strike her brother with deep hatred in her heart for the first time. Her girlfriend was already sensitive about their relationship and sexuality, so she did not need to hear words like “degenerate” and “pervert” flying around in regards to them. And as far as Sheshona was concerned, one of the last people she needed in her life to think so badly about her was trying to tear her down.

“Medea, go home,” Sheshona commanded. “I’ll call you later.”

“Yeah, leave, you pervert!” Hadrian ordered, glaring at the shivering witch.

“You fucking shut up! Don’t talk to her at all!” Sheshona hollered harshly at her big brother. She wrapped her arms around Medea, who was visibly shaking from being discovered. “It’s all right. I promise you, it’s all right,” she whispered, which helped ease the witch’s nerves, but only a little bit.

Medea fled the area by using her magic, disappearing from the yard. Sheshona turned her eyes to her brother, whose gaze easily matched her fury. _Why is he so upset with me, again_ , she wondered. _What the hell is his fucking problem?_

“You’re a damn disgrace, Shona. You’re just as bad as those people we fight,” Hadrian declared. It was not the first that he said that she was such. Each time, he seemed to mean it just a little more. She visibly flinched that time, but recovered quickly.

“Fuck you! You don’t know anything about anything! You need to take your fucking head out of your ass. There’s nothing wrong with me liking Medea or any other girl for that matter. It’s none of your fucking business!” Sheshona roared.

“It is my business when you’re bringing evil into my family! It is wrong what you’re doing. Girls shouldn’t like other girls!”

“Says who?” she demanded to know in a challenging tone while folding her arms across her chest.

“My father.”

“Daddy doesn’t care that I like girls,” she pointed out.

“Not Kane. My father.”

“Kane is your father, you fucking moron,” she stated soundly. _When the hell did my big brother get so stupid?!_

“No, he isn’t! Haven’t you noticed I don’t look anything like him?! Jason is my father and that’s why he treats me way better than Kane ever did!”

Sheshona’s hand flexed into a fist and her hand trembled with desire to hit this idiot before her. _Is my brother really this stupid? Since when?! How the hell could **my** big brother be so damn dumb?!_ This alone outraged her.

“Are there rats nesting in your fucking head?! Daddy treats you like the rest of us, good and well! We’re lucky to have a father like that and you’re willing to throw him away for a man that sees you maybe once a week if you’re lucky and only seems to care that you play football?! Has that man ever been there for you when you were sick, scared, thought you were alone? Was he there when we lost our brother? Has he ever taken you to see Azrael’s grave?! Does he even know you have a brother named Azrael?! Was he there when Mommy was bed-ridden with grief for a fucking year? Was he there when we were getting hunted down like animals for our powers? Was he there to share in our joy at becoming superheroes? Was he there for anything at all aside from your fucking football games?” she demanded to know.

“He was there for me and that’s good enough! He’s my father and not yours, so he doesn’t have to care about you!” he countered, throwing his arms out to the side to drive home his feelings.

“And in return you don’t have to care about me either? You don’t have to care about our brothers? About Mommy? About _Kane_?” she hissed their father’s name as if saying anything but his beloved title as the main man in their lives was blasphemous.

“I don’t care if you’re going to be this debased thing that kisses girls and acts like she’s better than me just because she can draw and she’s graduating a year earlier!” he countered in a hard tone.

“I never said I was better than you, but with the way you’re acting, I’m pretty sure I am,” she declared smugly.

“You’re nothing! You’re just a pervert! You’re horrible! That’s why you’ll always live in my shadow, no matter what you do! You’re always going to be Hadrian’s little sister!”

Sheshona hated how accurate he could be in hurting her, how well he knew her. Her teeth gritted together and her brain begged itself for a way to halt his momentum, but he was not done yet. He had to hit her even harder; he had to show her that he was superior to her no matter what.

“You think you’re all that, but even your precious Carina ended up giving up on you. Could you imagine if she knew this side of you? Could you imagine if she knew that this is probably what you wanted to do to her? She would’ve been so disgusted …”

Sheshona drowned out whatever else he said. _How could he bring up Carina to me?_ Her dearest Carina, who seemed to be lost to her considering they barely spoke anymore, and he would dare use her. _When the fuck did my own big brother get so cruel?_ She could not even think of a retort; she actually retreated.

“You need to run! Run and change yourself, you pervert!” Hadrian hollered. Underneath it all, he recognized that he wanted to throw up because of what just happened. He swallowed down the feeling and just watched his sister run away, telling himself that he had victory, but he did not feel very victorious for some reason.

-8-8-8-8-

Sheshona did not know where to go, so she just ran into her bedroom and shut herself inside. It should have felt like a haven, but at the moment it felt like exactly what it was: a hiding space. She ignored that and retreated further into herself, away from her brother’s words. She grabbed one of her old sketchbooks and flipped through it. A familiar face gazed back at her with loving eyes.

“Carina …” Sheshona breathed. _What would Carina think if she knew?_ _What would Carina’s reaction be if she knew the truth_ … that she was Sheshona’s first crush? _My first love?_ It blew Sheshona’s mind when she figured it out, so she could imagine how it would affect a straight-laced, proper, and very heterosexual Carina.

Sheshona was not sure how long she stayed holed up in her room, but soon, she noticed there was a knocking at the door. From the sound and slow beat, she knew who it was.

“Come on in, Daddy,” Sheshona called.

“Hey, Shona, dinner’s ready and everything,” Kane reported as he stepped in the room.

“I’m not really hungry right now, Daddy. I’ll fix something for myself later on,” Sheshona replied with sorrow in her tone while her eyes drifted to the floor.

“What’s wrong, Shona? I’ve never seen you look so upset,” he commented. She looked like the world was coming to an end. He could not stand to see her so heartbroken. “You broke up with Medea?” he guessed. He was expecting that news sooner or later since he had witnessed a few of their arguments.

“What? No! No, that’s not it. I had an argument with Hadrian and he said a lot of things …” Sheshona trailed off. Her brother had said a lot of troubling things. _Does he honestly believe those things?_ She hoped not, but then that would not explain why he said them.

“What sort of things?” Kane asked curiously while sitting down next to the teenager.

“He called me a lot of names after seeing me with Medea. He saw us kiss and I guess he hadn’t figured out we were dating. He said I was a pervert and stuff,” she mumbled, trying so hard not to sound hurt, but failing miserably.

“Why would he say those sorts of things?” Kane more wondered aloud than asked his daughter.

“I don’t know! He said that his father told him that people like me are perverts!”

“I never said anything like that,” Kane mused in a distant voice. 

“He said you’re not his father. He said that Jason is. He was talking all kinds of crazy things. He said I’m always going to be in his shadow and he called me bad for all kinds of weird reasons. He pretty much called me evil,” she explained as best she could, sounding so lost. Her eyes searched his for answers.

Kane sighed; _what’s wrong with that boy?_ He put his hand on Sheshona’s shoulder and rubbed her shoulder. She smiled weakly, obviously needing the contact.

“Daddy, he hates me, doesn’t he?” she asked softly. There were tears gathered in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

“No, your brother doesn’t hate you. I hope you don’t hate him for saying those things,” Kane replied.

“I’m pissed at him. I wanted to hit him, but I was scared I wouldn’t stop once I started,” she explained. She was scared that she would have beaten her brother to death if she had so much as touched him. “What should I do?”

“Well, your brother’s going through some things right now. You shouldn’t wait for him to get his act together if this is going to affect you. You should move on and he’ll come to you when he’s ready to stop being an ass. Now, first of all, we all know there’s nothing wrong with you liking girls. We’ve gone through that already. Second, you don’t have to worry about Hadrian’s thoughts on me being his father. I’ll handle that with him. Third, you really should get out of Hadrian’s shadow. I mean, aside from going to this college you wanted to go to, what have you ever done for yourself?” Kane asked curiously.

“Uh …” Sheshona was silent.

“Shona, what are your hopes and dreams?” he asked.

She was still quiet. “I don’t know,” she admitted.

“Well, go get some. You’ve got a brilliant mind and you’re extremely talented. You need to have your own dreams and stop following Hadrian’s. You’re your own person.”

Sheshona nodded; she was her own person. She was supposed to be building her own life anyway, yet she did not have any dreams. Her world still revolved around her big brother and his whims.

“It’s good that you’re going away for college. That way you can straighten yourself out without having to be Hadrian’s little sister,” Kane remarked, as if reading her mind. 

Sheshona nodded. “What about Hadrian?” 

“I’m going to go talk to him as soon as I know you’re all right. Are you okay?” he asked in a gentle tone.

“I feel a lot better. Thank you, Daddy,” she said.

“Hey, this is what I do,” he remarked with a grin. He reached out and hugged Sheshona to reassure her that everything was all right.

Sheshona smiled a little and returned the hug. After that, Kane left Sheshona to her thoughts and he went to visit with Hadrian. He walked over to the teen’s room and knocked on the door. Hadrian did not respond, so Kane opened the door to see if he was there.

“You really need to learn to knock,” Hadrian said from his space on his bed. For some reason that he could not figure out, his ceiling had become infinitely intriguing to him and he could not help watching it as if it would tell his fortune, or lack there of in his opinion.

“You really need to start using those manners me and your mother taught you,” Kane countered.

Hadrian snorted. “Like you two ever taught me anything important. What do you want?” the teen demanded.

“You said some rather upsetting things to your sister. Why would you do such a thing?” Kane inquired.

“Because she’s disgusting! If you knew the things your precious Shona did, you’d agree,” Hadrian answered.

“I know all about Shona and Medea if that’s what you mean. You don’t have any right to tell her that’s disgusting because she’s going out with Medea. Why would you even say something like that?” Kane demanded with a frown.

“That’s between me and Shona.”

“No, it’s not because you brought other people into it. Besides, it doesn’t even have anything to do with you. Shona’s relationship is none of your business.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, just defend your precious Shona. I don’t care. I said what I had to say,” Hadrian stated as if his word was law.

“Look, I don’t know what crawled up your ass, big boy, but it’s about time you let it out because this attitude isn’t cutting it. Now, I’ve already put up with you deciding you’re not going to college just because you can’t fucking play football, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you abuse your siblings.”

“Right, because those are your darling children. Don’t talk to me about football. You don’t know what it’s like! You don’t know how it is to play football and you don’t give a damn! At least my **_real_** father cares about me and what I do!”

Kane’s body shook and it looked like he had been shot. He fell back against the wall and had to support himself with one hand. _Did Hadrian just imply to his face that he seriously thought of Jason as “his_ _real_ _father?”_ Kane had not expected that to hit him as hard as it did, but god, he was nearly floored by such words. It felt like his guts dropped to the floor and his organs were being ripped out of his chest.

“Just leave me alone, Kane. You’re not my father and you can’t tell me what to do,” Hadrian hissed.

Kane was so shocked that he quietly left the room; Hadrian slammed the door shut. Kane staggered to the stairs while his mind whirled. _Not Hadrian’s father?_ Hadrian had actually referred to him as “Kane.” He made to the stairs, but had to stop, needing to catch his breath. He wondered for a moment if he was having a heart attack from the way it felt like everything in his body was throbbing and dying. Isabel was on her way up, so she ran into her visibly shaken husband.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Isabel asked with concern in her voice as she noticed all of the color drained from his face. She rushed to his side, in case he needed the support. She was one answer away from running to a phone to call the doctor.

“… He doesn’t think I’m his father …” Kane said in shock with his eyes staring out into space. He was not even speaking to Isabel, just the air. He sounded so confused, as if he did not know where he was or who he was.

Isabel arched an eyebrow. “Who doesn’t think you’re his father?” she inquired, even though she could guess already.

Kane just shook his head and looked off at the floor, as if it would somehow help him. Isabel was troubled by his behavior and grabbed him into an embrace. She placed his head on her shoulder and kissed the side of his head.

“Dearest, calm down and tell me what happened,” she requested. He was supposed to just go upstairs and get their eldest kids so that the dinner did not get cold or spoiled. _Why does he look like he saw a ghost from such a simple task?_

Kane took several deep breaths. “Hadrian … he said it. He said it right to me. I’m not his father. Could you imagine …?” He tensed in her arms.

Isabel just held her dear husband tighter. She caressed his powerful shoulders and offered him another kiss to the side of his head. It was about time to interfere with Hadrian’s “finding his own path” if his own path involved him being an asshole.

“I’ll take care of it, dearest,” Isabel promised. She leaned down and kissed Kane on the lips; it was a soft, gentle peck. She then released her husband to go take care of some business. Thankfully, he did not collapse once out of her hold.

Isabel marched off like a woman on a mission and entered her eldest son’s bedroom without knocking. He was frowning on his bed, staring at the ceiling rather than at her. She scowled and cleared her throat; he wisely turned his attention to her.

“What, Mother?” he demanded in an almost cold voice.

Isabel was taken aback by his tone and his use of the term “mother.” The word was never used when talking directly to her. She was “mommy” and her kids knew that.

“Who the fuck are you talking to like that, boy? Now, we’re going to try this shit again before I have to kick holes in your fucking stomach. I’m going to step out and come back in. I expect a proper greeting and a fixed attitude or I’ll have to fix it for you,” she informed him in a tone that he was not familiar with; she sounded much like her own mother. She then stepped out and came back in. He got things right that time.

“Hi, Mommy. What can I do for you?” Hadrian inquired while sitting up to face his mother.

“The fuck is your problem, Hadrian? You’ve been pissing people off left and right and now you have the nerve to say that Kane isn’t your father? Do you know what that man has been through for your sake and you would dare hurt him like this?” Isabel demanded with anger so evident in her voice that he feared it might strike him if she did not.

“Mommy—” he started, but she did not even let him finish.

“No, fuck, no. Don’t try to explain this shit. I know you think the world is fucking coming to an end and everything, but you don’t come out of your face to him like that. _He_ _is your father_ and you’re damn lucky to have him. You’re going to let Jason fill your head with all of his bullshit, but why don’t you try asking him where the fuck was he the first three years of your life? Why don’t you ask that bastard where the fuck he was on the day you were born? Why the fuck don’t you ask him what you favorite comic book is? Or who your favorite artist is? What you favorite food was when you were three, eight, ten, now? Or what the fuck your favorite subject is in school outside of fucking football? I guarantee you, he won’t know that shit. Kane, on the other, hand knows all of that and more. You don’t treat _your father_ like that,” Isabel ordered.

“I don’t need this shit!” Hadrian declared and he left, leaping out of his window since he knew better than to push pass his mother.

Isabel watched him go. He needed to make his own mistakes obviously and she would prefer that he make them outside the house where he could not hurt his family. She would give him those mistakes because sometimes to grow, a person had to be cut down a little bit first; that was true of their eldest two children surprisingly enough and they would later learn that. She went to tend to her wounded husband.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: a conclusion of sorts.


	31. Love springs eternal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own Hadrian, Sheshona, Matteo, Wes, or Wen; Disney does. I also don’t own Kim or Bonnie. I do own Isabel and Kane.

30: Love springs eternal 

-*-(Present day)-*-

“Fancy meeting such a beautiful creature like yourself here,” Kane commented as he sat down at an outside table at a small café. He grinned, quite pleased with sitting across from the world’s most beautiful woman, as far as he was concerned.

Isabel smiled, a few lines showing on her face. She was already sitting down and as soon as he was across from her, she reached out for his hand. He wasted no time in taking it into his own. He massaged the top of her hand with his thumb.

“So, where are you coming from, anyway?” Kane asked curiously, leaning forward to make sure he did not miss her response.

“I was in London and just happened to wander into France. You?” she countered. She had been in London for work. They had been together a couple of months ago, taking in the sights of Egypt, but they parted ways when she was offered work and he did not feel like hanging out with her while she worked. Not to mention, he had a thing against London’s weather; well, he swore the weather was out to get him.

“In the Eternal City, of course,” he answered with a grin. It seemed like he always ended up in Italy when he was not with her.

Nodding, she smiled a little. “You and your beloved Italy.”

“I’m hoping I can get you to come back with me. I thought it would be quite the place to spend our anniversary.”

“Besides, you left my gift there, didn’t you?” she teased, smiling at him like a delighted imp.

He laughed and had the nerve to look away as if he were shy. “I did,” he admitted. 

She waved him off. “That’s fine. I had your gift delivered there.”

Kane nodded and just smiled at his wife. _So many wonderful years together_ , he thought. And to think, they started out where she hated his guts. _Would our relationship be considered ironic then?_

“So, how about we just go home?” Kane suggested with his typical grin and he wiggled his eyebrows.

Isabel chuckled a bit and shook her head. “Such an unromantic husband. He has his beautiful wife in Paris of all places and wants to leave,” she remarked as if scolding him.

“To take her to Rome, an equally romantic setting,” he pointed out. Well, he really was not taking her to Rome, but it was close enough. Hell, in his opinion, all of Italy was beautiful and romantic.

“Nothing is an equally romantic setting compared to Paris,” she argued.

He frowned a bit, even though he knew that she was teasing him. “You know, I never got that whole ‘city of love’ thing. What the hell makes Paris the city of love? Why not … I dunno … Moscow? I know I’d spend a lot more time in bed in Moscow considering how cold it is and if you’re there, I damn sure wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon.”

“Okay, first off, you know you don’t need a reason to stay in bed. Second off, don’t try to get off the hook. It’s our anniversary and we’re in Paris. You’re practically obligated to do something romantic with me, dearest,” she stated.

Kane looked down, as if concentrating on the table. She knew that he was trying to think of something romantic to do with her. She supposed that she should have just let him off of the hook and allowed him to take her back to Rome, but she did not see why he should go back to some place that he was less than a day ago when they were some place just as nice for different reasons. Besides, she needed to keep him on his toes or he would get truly lazy on her.

“I should call Shona and ask her for ideas,” Kane grumbled. He was surprised to find out what a romantic their daughter could be, but he was certainly going to start taking advantage of that. He did want to do things for Isabel that showed he still loved her very much, even after so many years, but he never was good at thinking of romantic things.

“Matteo would probably have some decent ideas, too. You know how much he loves Paris,” Isabel commented, amused smile in place.

“You’re just teasing now. Are you sure you don’t want to just go home?” he asked.

“If it makes you feel better, I will let you off the hook, but next year’s anniversary better be special. None of this just meeting up in Paris by accident because I was going east and you were going west.”

Kane practically beamed. “Deal! I better start thinking of something now.”

“Considering how you move, the one year might not even be enough time to think of something special,” she teased.

He smiled. “Gimme a couple of years and I should be able to come up with something.” If not, then he really would be asking Sheshona or Matteo for ideas.

“Let’s go,” she suggested.

“We haven’t even eaten anything yet!” he whined.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine, we’ll eat something and then we’ll go.”

He grinned, quite happy with that information. They ate their meal and then went back to Italy at that very moment. As soon as they entered their one time home, they noticed a few packages waiting for them. They were expecting those.

“The kids always remember,” he commented with a smile.

“They’re better than you. Perhaps I could divorce you and marry one of the twins,” she remarked.

“There are so many things wrong with that, but if you do that, I’ll just go and marry Shona.”

“Shona is so over you,” she teased while draping herself on him.

He chuckled a bit, thinking that he knew what she meant. “Hey, if anyone could turn her around, it would be me.”

“It’s too late for you. Shona has two sweethearts now and you know that they are far cuter than you could ever be,” she teased him, reaching down to lightly caress his cheek.

“Shona has all the luck! How did she land two beautiful and younger girls like that!” he whined.

Isabel shook her head and went to look at the packages that were waiting for them. It was more than she expected, but only one over. She smiled a bit, figuring out just who the extra one was from.

“They are such sweet girls,” Isabel commented to herself.

“What?” Kane asked when he saw the dreamy look on her face.

“Kim and Bonnie sent us a present too. Let’s open these, so we can get that out of the way and spend the rest of our time with you making it up to me that you didn’t plan anything romantic for us to do in Paris.”

“You know, you could have just as easily planned something for us to do. Why do you always try to blame me!”

Isabel rolled her eyes and inspected the other boxes. They always opened them in a certain order. Kane joined her as she found what they were searching for. The box was not very large and it was from Hadrian.

They opened it and found a card, which was expected. The card read: _Happy Anniversary Mommy and Daddy. I hope you have many more. Make sure you enjoy this gift and try to get some culture for crying out loud!_ Inside of the card were tickets to football game, dated a month from that date. They laughed.

“He’s come a long way,” Isabel said with a smile on her face.

“Indeed he has,” Kane agreed.

They had had to put up with Hadrian’s angst for a few years after he graduated high school. He thought that being a hero would be enough, but found out that he was not the balance or glue of the team; he had driven that person away enough for her to quit the team before even leaving for college. His heart broke when the team disbanded before Matteo went off to college. His brothers just did not want to be around him after a while.

He tried doing the hero thing on his own, but found that it did not hold the same appeal without his siblings. He did not understand the hole that he was filled with, but it only made him more moody and distant to his parents.

Hadrian drifted aimlessly for a while with no team, hoping he could rely on Jason for a job. He found out that Jason did not have as much clout as claimed, but Jason was able to get him a job. That made Hadrian happy enough for him to actual move in with Jason for a little while.

Hadrian found living with his “father” to be less enjoyable than he expected. They clashed on so many things and Hadrian eventually realized that underneath it all he was very different from Jason. Things went to the point that he did not like to talk about when he lived with Jason. His parents did not speculate on the stay either.

Hadrian had come back humbled to his parents’ home and was stunned when they accepted him without a word. They took him back with open and warm arms. It was just what he needed and he had never been more grateful for his family, his _real_ family.

Their eldest son eventually made it to college and got a business and finance degree. He owned and managed one of those taco places that Isabel just could never remember the name to. He patched things up with Kane to the point where Kane was ready to pass his share of his company onto Hadrian soon enough.

“What else is in there?” Kane wondered aloud and he just carelessly dumped the rest of the contents on the floor. Two bottles crashed to the floor, almost shattering.

Isabel deadpanned. “Thank you, love,” she said dryly.

“Hey, my favorite cologne. And that looks like your favorite perfume. It’s a good thing they didn’t break, huh?” he asked with a huge grin on his face.

“Yeah, it’s a good thing it didn’t break or I would’ve had to do something unspeakable to you,” she growled.

Kane only grinned wider, as if that would make things better. Of course, it did. She sighed and hugged him before picking up the bottles. She put them down on a nearby table.

Kane dived into the next package. He grabbed out the card first. It read: _Happy Anniversary, Daddy. I didn’t know what to get you because you’ve got like fucking everything. So, here’s my best wishes and some piece of shit painting I picked up one day._ He laughed and pulled out the aforementioned painting.

“Now, for a girl that didn’t even include you in the card to send this, something must be wrong with her,” Kane remarked as he held up the framed 11x14 painting. Isabel smiled; it was a rare, recognized work by one of her favorite painters.

“Maybe she thought you’d appreciate it, too, just because you draw,” Isabel explained.

“It is a damn nice painting, though. I wonder where she got it from,” Kane commented as he examined the work in his hands. “These are nice colors around here,” he added while drawing an invisible circle around the area with his finger.

Isabel nodded in agreement with that statement. Kane eased that gift down onto the floor. They thought that it was nice of Sheshona to send them something that they both could appreciate, even though she seemed to have an attitude while doing it. But then again, she seemed to have an attitude about everything.

The parents had long ago noticed that Sheshona’s attitude got worse after her falling out with Hadrian back when they graduated high school. They thought that she would get better in college, but she actually got worse. Her patience wore thin because she seemed to be under the impression that the world was made up of idiots that only wanted to party. Amazingly enough, Sheshona was not a party girl in college and only seemed to get wild when she finally came home only to be shunned by her big brother even more than when she left.

The more Hadrian pushed her away, the parents noticed, the worse Sheshona behaved. It had no choice but to turn into a vicious cycle. Sheshona would act out, Hadrian would insult and belittle her behavior, so she would act out even more. It was a good thing that Sheshona had to go back to school or those two would have ended up killing each other just out of spite.

Aside from her brother, Sheshona suffered from romantic troubles. Medea had been draining, especially when Sheshona went off to college. Medea was insecure and often used her magic to check up on Sheshona, sometimes without letting Sheshona know. The girls had arguments whenever Medea saw Sheshona out with a girl, even though it was always innocent enough. Sheshona eventually got fed up with such possessive behavior, especially since Medea refused to come out, even to her parents. The break up had gone in a strange manner where Medea had actually ended up ending things, but Sheshona did not care. She just wanted the relationship over and done with.

As far as her parents knew, Sheshona did not have any serious girlfriends while she was in college. They had no doubt that she dated; she even told Kane about some girls, but they were all flings. Sheshona just did not seem to want to spare the energy on another girlfriend that she believed would just drain her and leave her.

Sheshona ended up finishing college early with a double major, one in child development for a reason that she never disclosed and another in physics, which they knew had to do with her interest in math and engineering. After that, they did not hear from her too often. She claimed that she was going to find her own path. Kane was surprised to learn that she ended up being a mercenary for the very people that she fought against when she was teenager. Isabel was not so surprised, but that was because in her family there were all types of weirdoes with odd jobs. As long as Sheshona kept some kind of moral code while working, Isabel was fine with it. She just hoped that Sheshona had not taken the job to spite Hadrian, even though they all suspected that was the case.

They never really did find out why Sheshona had chosen to become a villain. She would never admit to that her career choice had to do with her big brother, of course. Sometimes, they knew that Hadrian thought the same; they could see the guilt in his eyes, even back then. It was one of the things that let them know he was not totally lost to them, but Sheshona never noticed. She did not want to notice.

Her parents were quite happy with the recent developments in Sheshona’s life. They never imagined her almost dying would cause such wonderful changes in her life. They prayed that she stayed on the course that she was on right now and just continued to improve with each day that was granted to her.

“What should we open next? Kim and Bonnie’s gift sort of throws off our system,” Kane commented. Their order tended to go with from their oldest to youngest children, but now they had Shego’s lovers to include, too, and he figured that they fit in more with going after Shego.

“Let’s finish with the kids and then we can open Kim and Bonnie’s gift,” Isabel said.

Kane nodded to that and went onto the next box. He tore it open and went for the card. The card read: _Hey, Mommy and Daddy, happy anniversary! My gift is going to be the best and make sure you call me!_ It was signed from “the Emperor.” They chuckled again.

“We really messed that boy up in thinking he’s an emperor,” Kane remarked.

“Well, he is to us,” she reminded her husband.

He nodded in agreement while digging in the box to see what was sent. Matteo, their other selfish and brainiac child, had sent tickets to a show in Italy that was a couple of nights from that night. They knew they were expensive, too, because Matteo never did anything cheap when it came to his parents, thinking that it was a way to keep him in their thoughts.

Along with the tickets, there was a ceramic bowl in the box. Kane looked at it with a craned eyebrow while Isabel nodded. He had a feeling that she understood the gift more than he did. He was pretty sure that it was some sort of rare piece of art that only Matteo could find.

Matteo was the child that they did not worry about, despite his selfish nature. In high school, he had easily made friends and joined groups that allowed all attention to be directed toward him, like the drama club. He went to college and graduated early, just like his dearest big sister, with a double major himself; one in the theater and the other in sociology of all things. Apparently, he had an interest in cultures and its affects on those who live in the society. Unfortunately, he had yet to find any jobs that he thought were worthy of him and wandered the planet, living off of his trust fund, but he was trying to find something worth settling in. They hoped that he found something soon, but as long he was happy, they were the same.

“We’ll have to call him first before he has a cow,” Kane pointed out.

“I know that,” Isabel replied.

They moved onto the next package, knowing it was from the twins. There was no card, as there never was a card when it came to the twins. With the way that those two worked, their parents were always surprised that they even knew to send a gift.

“So, do you want to take a guess as to where they are based on the gift?” Kane proposed.

“Sounds good,” Isabel replied.

They pulled out the gift together and were not sure what to make of it. It was a stuffed python that looked about ten feet long. Its jaws were open, showing off its six rows of teeth. Isabel craned an eyebrow while Kane smiled.

“This thing is so cool!” Kane declared.

“Yeah,” Isabel deadpanned. “I say they’re in the Amazon again from the looks of this thing.”

Kane nodded in agreement. “Yeah, probably. They do love Brazil.”

“They inherited your wanderlust as well as your looks. I guess you did manage at least two kids that were like you,” she teased.

“Hey, that’s more than you got. At least the two that are like me get along with me and everything. I mean, Shona doesn’t even like you!” he countered.

Isabel snorted and rolled her eyes. “Shona’s just jealous of me.”

Kane could not help laughing at that one, especially since she sounded quite serious while saying it. He then turned his attention to their last shared gift, the one from Bonnie and Kim. He carefully opened the box.

“It was really sweet of them to send something. I guess this means they’re serious about being with Shona, though, right?” Kane asked. He hoped that they were because he was fairly certain that Shego was head-over-heels in love.

“I think that is an accurate assumption, although I think it was safe to assume that they were serious the moment they became a trio instead of a couple. They’re all so cute together,” she replied.

“They are. Hell, I just realized, we should find out their birthdays and everything to send them gifts like we do with the kids. If they’re this serious, they’re going to be a part of Shona’s life from now on and I’d like to welcome them into the family,” Kane explained.

“Sounds like a brilliant idea, which might explain why I already had it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, so we can take care of that when we need to. I’ll let you know the day before, so you don’t screw it up.”

Kane balked and looked ready to burst into tears. “Why do you have such little faith in me, Bella!” he pretended to cry.

Isabel only laughed before opening the box from Kim and Bonnie. There was a card that simply wished the couple a happy anniversary. There was a framed photo of Shego, Kim, Bonnie, and their cat, all lounging in the living room on their sofa. Shego appeared to be asleep, which would explain why she took the picture in the first place.

“Hey, they’ve got a cat. I hope they aren’t turning into one of those couples that get cats or dogs instead of having kids,” Kane commented when he took note of their calico cat resting on top of Bonnie, who was lying on top of Kim, who resting on Shego, who was knocked out on the bottom of the pile.

“Calm down, dearest. They’re not like us. They probably would like to be together for a little while before thinking about having kids. It would be nice to have a grandbaby or two by now. I mean, god, I’m fifty!” Isabel complained.

“Soon to be fifty one,” Kane chimed in for no reason.

“Are you trying to call me old?” Isabel demanded to know, grabbing her husband by the collar with one hand and made a fist with the other.

“Never, sweetest, dearest Bella!” he replied while sounding like he was crying.

“That’s what I thought,” she huffed while letting him go.

Kane threw on one of his biggest, goofiest grins. She sighed and leaned down to kiss him just for the hell of it. His expression was dazed by the time she pulled away. She chuckled a bit when she saw his face.

“Let’s see what else they sent us,” she suggested.

He nodded and made a noise that she took as a sign of agreement. She pulled out some wrapping and saw that there was another box in there, which was tied up in gift-wrapping. She handed it to Kane, knowing that he just loved to tear wrapping. He ripped right into it and then opened the plain white box to reveal matching pajama sets, which got a laugh out of him.

“They are just too cute,” Isabel said, referring to Kim and Bonnie.

“That they are. With luck, the boys will find themselves some girls like them,” Kane commented.

“Well, Hadrian was saying that he’s seeing a nice girl. He doesn’t want us to meet her yet, though. He says he needs to prepare her,” she informed him with a chuckle.

“This might take a while,” he added in with a laugh.

Isabel only nodded; they did not have the best track record when it came to meeting their sons’ girlfriends. At least Sheshona, or Shego as she preferred to be called now, knew to introduce them to the girls that could handle it; they had met maybe four of Shego’s girlfriends out of who-knew-how-many. Out of those four, two were Kim and Bonnie; one of the others was Medea.

“Let’s start making the calls, so we can have the rest of the day to ourselves,” she suggested.

Kane nodded and they went to sit down to call up each of their children. They called Hadrian first. He was polite and did not keep them long, thanking them for the call and indulging in a minute of conversation to catch them up on his life. Matteo was a different story, though.

“Hey, Mommy, Daddy, I’m glad to hear from you! I hope you liked my gifts!” Matteo said; they could tell that he was grinning proudly as he spoke.

“They were a very thoughtful gifts, Matt,” Isabel assured him. She supposed it would not be good to tell him that she planned on using his bowl as a candy dish.

“Why’d you pick something so boring?” Kane pretended to complain.

“Daddy, you saw that same thing two years ago and thought it was the greatest thing ever made,” Matteo deadpanned.

“That was two years ago. It’s a new year,” Kane remarked, smirking. He was obviously getting a kick out of teasing their son.

“Mommy, you’ll like it and you have to force Daddy to like it since it was from me,” Matteo commented and they knew that he was quite serious.

“Oh, I will force your father to like it. I promise you that,” Isabel vowed, glaring at Kane, causing him to fall back.

“Good to know. I know you’ll love it. I saw it not too long ago. The actors in it were perfect. Of course, I would’ve done so much better, but you can’t always have the best,” Matteo remarked. They could practically feel his arrogance through the phone; it seemed to get worse as he got older.

The parents then had to wiggle their way out of the conversation with Matteo because he would talk forever if they let him. They called the twins next since it was pretty easy to hold a rushed conversation with the two of them.

“Can’t talk!” Wen hollered.

“Free falling!” Wes added in.

“Just wanted to say thanks for the gift,” the parents informed them before disconnecting the call.

“Hmm … want to make a bet on how Shona answers the phone?” Kane asked curiously.

“If she answers the phone. Usually, Bonnie answers when I call,” Isabel replied.

“Fine, let’s make a bet on who answers the phone. The winner gets to be in charge of everything during our anniversary,” he proposed.

“And if Kim answers?”

“Then nobody wins and you get to keep pushing me around like always,” he remarked with a grin.

Isabel agreed and then dialed up their daughter’s home. They waited patiently for an answer. They would not be surprised if no one picked up since all three women in the trio were busy … well, when they all wanted to be anyway. Shego could probably sleep her life away if given the excuse to do so, her parents thought; of course, Kane did not think that was such a bad thing.

“Hello,” the very familiar and happy voice of Kim chirped. Even though neither of them won the bet, Kane and Isabel could not help smiling at the sound of her voice.

“Hello, Kim dear. It’s Isabel. Are my lazy daughter and your other hardworking girlfriend around? Kane and I would like to speak to all three of you,” Isabel explained.

“Sure. Hold on a sec,” Kim replied.

“No problem,” Kane said.

“She is just too adorable,” Isabel remarked under her breath, referring to Kim. Her husband nodded in total agreement.

“Mommy, what the fuck do you want?” Shego chimed in, voice as gruff as always when her mother was involved.

“Hey, firefly. Your daddy and I are calling to thank you and your girls for the wonderful gifts for our anniversary,” Isabel explained.

“Whatever. We don’t need your damn thanks,” Shego replied. “Daddy, you don’t let this demon woman push you around.”

“Electra complex …” Bonnie hummed.

“I don’t have a damn Electra complex!” Shego huffed.

“No, she just loves her daddy very much,” Kim teased.

“Oh, fuck all of you,” Shego said bluntly.

Kane decided to jump in because he had a good feeling that the four women could be at it all day if left alone. “We just wanted to say thanks for remembering us and sending gifts. You three should get back to your night. And if that’s not enough of a hint, I’m trying to score here, so just hang up already,” he remarked with a laugh.

“Thank you, Daddy. That’s just what I needed to hear,” Shego said quite sarcastically.

The call was disconnected and Kane pounced on Isabel before she could even put the phone down. Isabel was about to say something, but her typically amorous husband swallowed all of her words down. When he pulled away for air, she decided to tease him a bit.

“Strange, you mean you can still perform at your age?” she asked while caressing him below the waist, making him groan.

“I think I’ll always be able to perform for you, Bella. I could be ninety and still have the energy for you. Now, you might not like that if we make it to ninety,” he countered, hissing a bit as she continued to touch him.

Isabel just laughed and figured that since it was their anniversary, she would be nice and stroke his ego. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of you, dearest. No matter how stupid you act.” She just could not avoid taunting him now.

“I figure you’re used to my stupid behavior by now. You’ve been with me for over thirty-one years,” he pointed out.

“Hopefully, we’ll get another thirty-one,” she said. “And some damn grandkids one of these days.” 

Kane laughed a little bit. It struck him as funny that Han women seemed to love children, even though their tough personalities seemed like childcare would not be their thing. He was sure it was this trait that made Shego major in child development. He supposed that he would enjoy grandchildren, too, but he was not as impatient with it as Isabel was. He reached down and caressed her side.

“We’ll just have to wait for that. But, until then, let’s get this anniversary started,” he remarked.

She just smiled at him, silently agreeing. Thirty-one years of marriage and five children later, they were still deeply in love it would seem … not that Isabel would admit that, even now. Still, she _would_ admit that they would be together until the day that one of them died. Love was a strange thing.

-8-8-8-8- 

The end.

If you want to see some art featuring Isabel, [check this out](http://starvinglunatic.deviantart.com/favourites/7077761/Isabel-featured).

If you want to see more of Isabel and Kane, please read “[In the Middle](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2358098/chapters/5204177).” Or you can go[ here for FFN](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3154326/1/In-the-Middle), whichever you prefer. Thanks for reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you wanna see more of my fanfics, they're all at FFN under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fanfiction.net/~starvinglunatic). If you wanna see some original stories, you can look at FP under [StarvingLunatic](https://www.fictionpress.com/u/576301/).


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